Asian Wrestling Championships 2026: Silver for Lalit, bronze for Sunil Kumar; Nitesh reaches 97kg GR final
Former U-23 Asian Championships bronze medallist Lalit bagged India’s first medal of the 2026 Senior Asian Wrestling Championships in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on Tuesday with a silver medal in the 55kg Greco Roman category while Nitesh reached the final of the 97kg Greco Roman category.
New Delhi: Former U-23 Asian Championships bronze medallist Lalit bagged India’s first medal of the 2026 Senior Asian Wrestling Championships in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on Tuesday with a silver medal in the 55kg Greco Roman category while Nitesh reached the final of the 97kg Greco Roman category.
Former champion Sunil Kumar added another bronze medal to his trophy cabinet to make it a fruitful day for the Indian contingent. Lalit, who had packed off China’s Huoying Shi in the semi-finals, put up a strong resistance against Ikhtiyor Botirov of Uzbekistan in the final but could not avoid a 0-9 loss.
In the 87kg bronze medal match, Sunil Kumar fought back after conceding four points in the first round to beat Uzbekistan’s Mukhammadkodir Rasulov 5-4 to win his second consecutive bronze medal in the Asian Championships Earlier, Nitesh ensured that he would improve on his 2025 Asian Championships performance after securing a final spot in the 97kg Greco Roman category.
The 23-year-old, who had bagged the bronze medal last year, defeated Zegang Wang of China 7-2 in the semi-finals to set up a gold medal clash against defending champion Mohammadhadi Saravi of Iran. In the semi-final, Nitesh made the most of the par Terre (ground position) for passivity given to the Chinese in the first round by scoring six points, which included a four-point throw. He then defended astutely in the second round to win easily.
India will also have a shot at the bronze medal in 82kg Greco Roman category with Prince, taking on Didar Ammanazarov of Turkmenistan. The 20-year-old went down 10-0 against Iran’s Mohammadamin Hosseini of Iran in the semi-finals. However, there was heartbreak for Aman in the 77kg Greco Roman bronze medal match as he went down 14-15 against South Korea’s Yeonghun Noh. Aman fought back from a 7-12 deficit at the end of the first round but fell short by a point.
Sachin Sahrawat (67kg GR) will also have a shot at the bronze medal after he managed to get in the Repechage round and will face China’s Ji Leng on Wednesday.
