40.6 C
Delhi
Sunday, April 20, 2025

Sunil Kumar opens India’s medal account at Asian Wrestling Championships

Date:

Share post:

Donate-GC-Razorpay

Amman (Jordan): India’s Sunil Kumar clinched a bronze medal in the Greco-Roman 87kg weight category at the Asian Wrestling Championships 2025 here on Tuesday, opening the country’s medal tally at the prestigious event.

The 25-year-old Indian grappler began his campaign with a commanding 10-1 victory over Tajikistan’s Sukhrob Abdulkhaev in the quarterfinals. However, he fell short in the semifinal, losing 1-3 to Iran’s Yasin Ali Yazdi. Sunil made a strong comeback in the bronze medal bout, defeating China’s Jiaxin Huang 3-1 to secure his place on the podium.

This marks Sunil Kumar’s fifth senior medal at the Asian Wrestling Championships. He previously won silver in 2019 before creating history in 2020 by ending India’s 27-year wait for a gold medal in Greco-Roman wrestling at the continental event. The Indian wrestler also bagged bronze medals in both 2022 and 2023.

His latest achievement follows his success at the Hangzhou 2023 Asian Games, where he earned India’s first Greco-Roman wrestling medal since 2010, when Ravinder Singh and Sunil Kumar Rana had secured bronze.

On an otherwise tough day for the Indian contingent, the remaining four Greco-Roman wrestlers – Nitin (55kg), Umesh (63kg), Sagar Thakran (77kg), and Prem (130kg) – failed to secure podium finishes. Nitin, Umesh, and Prem were eliminated in the qualification rounds, while Sagar suffered a defeat via technical superiority against Jordan’s Amro Sadeh in the quarterfinals.

India will see further action in Greco-Roman wrestling today, with Sumit (60kg), Neeraj (67kg), Kuldeep Malak (72kg), Rahul (82kg), and Nitesh (97kg) set to compete.

Meanwhile, India’s Paris 2024-bound Olympians, Reetika Hooda (women’s 76kg) and Antim Panghal (women’s 53kg), will take the mat on Thursday and Friday, respectively, as they look to add to India’s medal tally at the championships.

Related articles

Murshidabad incident should be investigated by NIA: VHP International President Alok Kumar

The International President of the Vishva Hindu Parishad and Senior Advocate, Alok Kumar, has expressed his concern over...

Why Tamil Nadu Needs Jayalalithaa (Amma) Once Again

It has been years since the iron-willed matriarch of Tamil Nadu, J. Jayalalithaa — lovingly called Amma by...

Canadians turn up for advance voting

Ottawa: Canada's federal election advance polls opened on Friday, giving voters several days to cast their ballots ahead...

UNIDO criticises U.S. tariff hikes, calling for worldwide cooperation

Vienna: The United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) on Friday published an article on its website, expressing concern...