Pattaya, Jul 6: Indian wrestlers finished with an impressive haul of 20 medals, including four gold, seven silver and nine bronze at the Under-20 Asian Wrestling Championships here.
India ensured consistent podium finishes across multiple weight divisions throughout the championship, securing top-three overall team rankings in both women’s wrestling and men’s freestyle.
In women’s wrestling, India finished second on the podium with 184 points, falling just short of champions China (189 points) while outclassing third-placed Japan (142 points).
The Indian men’s freestyle team finished third overall in the team standings with 152 points, behind winners Kazakhstan (170) and runners-up Iran (164).
Leading the Indian charge in the women’s division were Parveen (50kg), Muskan (53kg), and Kajal (76kg), who all clinched gold medals in their respective weight classes.
Parveen outclassed Uzbekistan’s Shokhista Shonazarova 13-2, Muskan held her nerve to edge past Japan’s Mai Ogawa 6-5 on points, and Kajal put on a clinical display to shut out Japan’s Mahiru Fujita 5-0.
Manya Rajput (57kg), Savita (62kg), and Manisha (72kg) settled for silver medals after losing their respective title clashes against Chinese opponents.
In the bronze-medal playoffs, Kajal (55kg) secured a fall victory over Uzbekistan’s Sakibjamal Esbosynova, Komal (59kg) blanked Kyrgyzstan’s Akylai Chynybaeva 12-0 via technical superiority, and Mansi Lather (65kg) defeated Korea’s Yeonwoo Song 13-2.
In the men’s freestyle, Sumit Kumar Laxman Bharaskar captured the solitary gold medal for India in the 70kg category, prevailing 13-7 in a high-scoring thriller against Kazakhstan’s Sungkar Seidakhmet.
Pushp (61kg), Saurabh Yadav (79kg), and Ronak (125kg) signed off with silver medals after falling short in their respective finals.
The freestyle contingent also added three bronze medals through Rohit (57kg), Adarsh Yuvraj Patil (74kg), and Lacky (97kg), who all registered convincing victories in their playoff bouts.
Earlier in the Greco-Roman division, Akshay Rana secured a silver medal in the 97kg category after going down 0-8 to Iran’s Amirsam Behnam Mohammadi in the final.
Neeraj Patel (55kg), Anuj (67kg), and Dheeraj Kumar Malik (67kg) won their respective playoffs on points to take home bronze medals.
Prior to the U-20 event, the Indian contingent also produced a dominant show in the U-15 Asian Wrestling Championships at the same venue, finishing their campaign with 21 medals across the three categories. (PTI)
