India’s women wrestlers miss the mark as men’s freestyle takes centre stage

Of six, two-time Worlds bronze medallist Antim Panghal (53kg), who changed the colour from bronze to silver, was the lone medallist. | Photo Credit: REUTERS

The Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games yielded a mixed bag of results for Indian wrestlers as the country achieved its best performance since 1962 despite witnessing one of the poorest showings by its women.

In men’s freestyle, Paris Olympics bronze medallist Aman Sehrawat improved his bronze to gold in 57kg and Sujeet Kalkal, a World Under-23 and Asian Champion, claimed the top honour in 65kg to lead the campaign. India finished with six medals as four of its wrestlers ensured podium finishes in consecutive editions.

India matched last edition’s tally of six medals but elevated itself to third place on the strength of the twin gold. In 1978 and 2018, the country had also won two gold medals apiece while managing an identical total of three medals. The country’s 1962 tally had 12 medals, including three gold, when Greco-Roman made its debut.

With the turmoil that had surrounded Indian wrestling before the 2022 Hangzhou Games having subsided, one expected a better haul of medals this time. But the expectation was only partly met. While the freestylers increased their tally from two to three and Greco-Roman wrestlers went up from one to two, the women slipped from three to one medal.

Sehrawat asserted his class as he fought authoritatively to secure the gold. He got the better of U-20 Worlds bronze medallist home favourite Yamato Ogawa 20-9, U-23 Asian champion Kazakh Nurdanat Aitanov 12-1 and Tajikistan’s Aiaal Belolyubskii 14-8. In the title clash, Sehrawat overcame a stiff challenge from North Korean World champion Chong Song Han to post an 11-7 victory.

“Aman was keen on winning the gold this time as he has hit the peak of his career,” said freestyle coach Vinod Kumar.

Kalkal defeated Afghan Sayed Zazai 13-3 and Iranian Abbas Ebrahimzadehsavadkouhi 10-0 before recording two stunning fightbacks. He upset Japanese Olympic champion Kotaro Kiyooka 3-3 via criteria in the much-anticipated semifinal duel before staging the mother of all comebacks, spectacularly erasing a 2-9 deficit to scrape past Tajikistan’s Asian bronze medallist Abdulmazhid Kudiev 10-9, in the summit clash.

By claiming the 65kg crown, Kalkal carried forward the legendary legacy of Yogeshwar Dutt (2014 gold) and Bajrang Punia (2018 gold).

“The final goal is the Olympic gold. This is like a semifinal. In the Asian Games final, he took the opponent lightly before managing a win. That’s a lesson for the future. For the first time, he used the ‘dhobi pachhad’ technique. He needs to keep adding new techniques in the run-up to the Olympics,” said Kalkal’s father-cum-personal coach Dayanand.

Vinod sees Sehrawat and Kalkal as bright prospects for Los Angeles 2028. “Both Aman and Sujeet are disciplined. They are strong gold medal contenders for the Olympics,” said Vinod. The seasoned Deepak Punia, a former Worlds silver medallist, made a fine comeback in 97kg and bagged his second successive Asiad medal after taking the 86kg silver three years ago.

“If Deepak returns to 86kg, his movement will improve, and he can be more effective. This medal is a good reward for his effort,” said Vinod.

India had to field a depleted squad as one freestyle and two Greco-Roman wrestlers were withdrawn after returning positive doping results. Considering that, it was a good outing for the Greco-Roman wrestlers as two of the four medalled, the first time India had won two Greco-Roman medals at an Asian Games in 16 years. The experienced Sunil Kumar continued to impress as he clinched his second back-to-back bronze in 87kg.

Two-time Asian Championships medallist Nitesh Siwach delivered a surprise in 97kg. He became the first Indian Greco-Roman wrestler in 64 years to reach the Asian Games final and collected a deserving silver after losing 0-4 to local favourite Yuri Nakazato.

“Glad that our Greco-Roman performance has gone up. Some promising boys are coming up. Hopefully, we will do better in the future,” said Greco-Roman coach Hargobind Singh.

However, the women wrestlers performed below par. Of six, two-time Worlds bronze medallist Antim Panghal (53kg), who changed the colour from bronze to silver, was the lone medallist.

Among those who got closer to medals, young Dipanshi (50kg) and Worlds medallist Mansi Ahlawat (62kg) lost their respective bronze medal matches, while Nisha Dahiya (68kg) exited in the repechage round.

“It’s a lesson for the girls and me. We need to improve a lot,” admitted women’s coach Virender Dahiya.

No doubt, the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) will brainstorm with its Indian and foreign coaching staff to find ways to raise performance, especially in the women’s section.

For the wrestlers, the next big target will be the World championships in Astana in October before the whole focus switches to 2028 Olympic qualification.