Asian Wrestling Championships 2024: Anju, Harshita win silver medals; Manisha, Antim bag bronze
A total of five Indian women competed on Sunday. World championships bronze medallist Sarita Mor returned empty-handed in the 57kg category.
Wrestling
Anju and Harshita helped India win two silver medals on Sunday at the Asian Wrestling Championships 2024 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
Anju won the silver in the women’s 53kg weight category while Harshita finished second in the women’s 72kg. Manisha and Antim also won bronze medals in the women’s 62kg and 65kg weight classes, respectively.
After winning her qualifier against Aliah Gavalez of the Philippines 12-1, Anju defeated Sri Lanka’s Nethmi Poruthotage 14-4 in the quarter-finals.
The Indian wrestler secured a 9-6 victory over the People’s Republic of China’s Chun Lei in the semi-final to progress to the gold medal match.
However, Anju was blanked by Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s Ji Hyang Kim 10-0 and settled for the silver medal.
Harshita also suffered a 5-2 loss to Qian Jiang of China in the gold medal match of the women’s 72kg and secured the silver medal.
The 19-year-old Indian wrestler had earlier blanked Kazakhstan’s Anastassiya Panassovich 5-0 in the semi-finals. She also defeated Ozoda Zaripboeva of Uzbekistan 13-3 in the quarters.
Manisha won the bronze in the women’s 62kg after securing a comfortable 5-0 triumph over Arian G. Carpo of the Philippines in the bronze medal match. She clinched a narrow 14-13 win over North Korea’s Su Gyong Choe before suffering a 3-0 loss to Sakura Motoki of Japan in the semi-final.
Antim secured the second bronze medal for India on Sunday in the women’s 65 kg weight class. She won her bronze medal bout as her opponent Soobin Kim of South Korea was injured.
Antim had earlier blanked Kyrgyzstan’s Dilnaz Sazanova 11-0 before going down 6-0 to Japan’s Mahiro Yoshitake in the semi-final.
Sarita, a world championships bronze medallist and two-time Asian champion competed in the women’s 57kg but returned empty-handed after suffering an 8-4 loss to Mongolia’s Gantuya Enkhbat in the quarter-finals.
With four medals on Sunday, India’s overall medal tally at the Asian Wrestling Championships 2024 stands at nine - four silvers and five bronze. Three medals - one silver and two bronze - came on the opening day in the men’s freestyle wrestling while a silver and a bronze came in women’s wrestling on Saturday.