Asian Wrestling C'ships: India sign off with two silver, a bronze on the last day
New Delhi, April 12
India signed off their campaign with two silver and a bronze medal to take their overall tally to 17 medals, including two gold, in the 2026 Asian Wrestling Championships in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on Sunday.
With an overall tally of two gold, six silver, and nine bronze medals, India finished second in the table behind Asian superpower Iran.
The Indian freestyle wrestlers finished with two gold, three silver, and two bronze medals, while the women bagged one silver and four bronze medals.
On the final day of competition, India had two wrestlers in gold medal bouts, but neither could find a way past their respective opponents.
In the 61kg freestyle final, Aman went down to Kwang Myong Kim of North Korea in a high-scoring final that ended 13-10 in the Korean's favour. Aman, a Paris Olympics bronze medallist in the 57kg weight category, was playing in a higher weight category in Bishkek.
Later, Mukul Dahiya went down 0-7 against Iran's Kamran G Ghasempour in the men's 86kg freestyle final to take India's silver medal tally to six. Dinesh then signed off the Indian campaign with a bronze medal as he registered a dominant 12-1 win over Arslanbek Turdubekov of Kyrgyzstan in the men's 125kg freestyle bout.
With Iran topping the Team Rankings with 178 points, India were second with 162 as Japan ended third with 127 points.
— IANS
Reader Comments
Well done to all the athletes! 17 medals is a fantastic haul. But we need to convert more of those silvers into golds. The gap to Iran is 16 points, we can close it with better support and training facilities.
Aman wrestling up a weight class and still reaching the final shows his class. Tough loss but he's a champion. Dinesh's dominant 12-1 win to end the campaign was the perfect finish! 💪
Great to see India consistently performing well in wrestling. The women's team with 5 medals is impressive too! This bodes well for the future. Keep it up!
Iran is a wrestling powerhouse, so being second to them is actually a huge achievement. Our wrestlers come from humble backgrounds and fight with so much passion. Salute!
The scoreline in Mukul's final (0-7) is a bit worrying. We need to analyze why we sometimes fall short in the biggest finals. More mental conditioning might help. Still, a great tournament overall.
We welcome thoughtful discussions from our readers. Please keep comments respectful and on-topic.