Asian Wrestling Championships: Greco-Roman grappler Vikas bagged bronze on the second day

Greco-Roman wrestler Vikas moved India to four on the table by winning a bronze medal on the second day of the Asian Wrestling Championships 2023 in Astana, Kazakhstan on Monday.

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Vikas defeated Jian Tan of China by technical superiority 8-0 in the men's 72kg Greco-Roman category. The Indian made a strong start with an 11-0 technical superiority win over Korea's Ji-yeon Lee in the qualification round. However, he suffered a 6–1 defeat in the quarter-finals to Iran's Sajjad Imentalab. Vikas won the bronze after Sajjad Immentalab reached the finals of Asian Wrestling Championships.

However, three other Indian wrestlers, Sumit (60kg), Rohit Dahiya (82kg), and Narinder Cheema (97kg) were in contention for medals. But, all three lost in the Asian Wrestling Championships bronze medal match. Sumit, who beat Turkmenistan's Umit Durdy by technical superiority 9-0 in the qualification, lost 0-10 to world champion Zholaman Sharshenbekov of Kyrgyzstan in the quarter-finals, who won the gold medal. In the bronze medal match, Sumit lost 6-14 to Maito Kawana of Japan.

Meanwhile, Rohit Dahiya lost 5-1 to Iran's Alireza Mohmadi in the Asian Wrestling Championships bronze medal match. Rohit beat Singapore's Aryan Azman 12-4 in the first round but went down 1-7 to eventual gold medalist Akylbek Talantbekov of Kyrgyzstan in the next round. While in the 97kg category, Narinder Cheema reached the semi-finals, where he lost 0-9 to Kyrgyzstan's Uzur Dzhuzupbekov. Narinder lost 4-1 to Kazakhstan's Olzhas Syrlybay in the bronze medal match.

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India ended the Greco-Roman campaign at the Asian Wrestling Championships with four medals. On Sunday, Rupin won a silver in the 55kg category, while Neeraj (63kg) and Sunil Kumar (87kg) won bronze medals.