Recap: Aman Sehrawat leads the way for India at Asian Wrestling Championships 2023

The Indian contingent returned with 14 medals from the tournament in Astana.

Asian Wrestling Championships 2023 concluded on 14 April and close to 330 wrestlers from 22 countries participated in the Continental Championships held in Astana, Kazakhstan. India finished the Championships on the seventh spot (team rankings) with one gold, three silver, and 10 bronze medals.

Hosts Kazakhstan finished on top, scoring 175 points followed by Japan and Iran with 129 and 124 points respectively. Aman Sehrawat was the lone gold medallist (55kg freestyle) from India across three categories. 

Summary of India's Performance at the Asian Wrestling Championships 2023

Greco-Roman

Rupin was the first wrestler to win a medal from India on the opening day of the Asian Wrestling Championships 2023. The 19-year-old made the final but lost to U-23 reigning champion Pouya Dadmarz from Iran in a close contest to return with a silver. Rupin did not have a good start to the opening round losing seven points on the trot but the youngster made a tremendous comeback to win the match and in a fine fashion. Neeraj Chhikara, Vikas, and Sunil Kumar were the other three wrestlers to bag the medals (all three bronze) in Greco-Roman.

Sumit (60kg), Rohit Dahiya (82kg), and Narinder Cheema (97kg) lost in their respective bronze medal matches (through repechage).

Women’s Wrestling

Antim Panghal and Nisha were the only two women wrestlers to progress to the finals at the Asian Championships 2023. The former put up a great show in the absence of seasoned campaigner Vinesh Phogat and won the silver medal. Antim was outclassed by defending champion Akari Fujinami of Japan in the final and lost (0-10).

Reigning bronze medallist at U-23 Wrestling Championships, Nisha Dahiya lost to Ami Ishi from Japan in the final. Ami Ishi was the silver medallist at the 2022 World Championships.

Anshu Malik finished the continental meet on a positive note after getting injured in the semifinals. Anshu came back strong in the bronze medal playoff and won against Mongolia's Erdenesuvd Bat Erdene (10-0).

Men's Freestyle

Aman Sehrawat won the gold medal in the 57kg category and was India’s only gold medallist at the Asian Wrestling Championships 2023 (across all three categories). Aman took up the responsibility in the absence of Olympic silver medallist Ravi Kumar Dahiya and won the gold (fourth successive gold in 57kg across previous editions). Ravi Dahiya will have a strong contender to compete in the selection trials for the Asian Games. 

Deepak Mirka (79kg) and Anirudh Kumar (125kg) won the bronze medals. Tokyo Olympian Deepak Punia lost in the quarter-finals to Magomed Sharipov from Bahrain and did not get a chance to compete in the repechage ending his stay.

India's Medalists at the Asian Wrestling Championships 2023

Greco-Roman

55 kg: Rupin (silver medal)

63 kg: Neeraj (bronze medal)

72 kg: Vikas (bronze medal)

87 kg: Sunil Kumar (bronze medal)

Women’s Wrestling

53 kg: Antim Panghal (silver medal)

57 kg: Anshu Malik (bronze medal)

62 kg: Sonam (bronze medal)

65 kg: Manisha (bronze medal)

68 kg: Nisha Dahiya (silver medal)

72 kg: Reetika (bronze medal)

76 kg: Priya (bronze medal)

Men’s Freestyle

57 kg: Aman Sehrawat (gold medal)

79 kg: Deepak Mirka (bronze medal)

125 kg: Anirudh Kumar (bronze medal)

Best Performers from India

Aman Sehrawat

Performance at the Asian Wrestling Championships 2023

1. Quarter-Finals – beats Rikuto Arai (7-1) by VP01

2. Semi-Finals – beats Wanhao Zou (7-4) by VP01

3. Final – beats Almaz Smanbekov (9-4) 

19-year-old Aman Sehrawat has progressed well in the senior set-up. He won the bronze medal at the Zagreb Open ranking series earlier this year. He has filled in the gap of star wrestler Ravi Dahiya (who has been struggling due to injuries).

Antim Phangal

Performance at the Asian Wrestling Championships 2023

Qualification - beats Ping Alvina Lim (10-0) by VFA

Quarter-Final - beats Deng Li (6-0) by VPO

Semi-Final - beats Aktenge Keunimjaeva (8-1) by VFA

Final - lost to Akari Fujinami (0-10) by VSU 

U-20 World Champion Antim Panghal had a great outing at the Asian Wrestling Championships 2023 winning the silver medal in the absence of experienced Vinesh Phogat. Antim did not lose a single point en route to the final (the only point she lost in the semi-Final was through passivity). She won the gold medal at the Zouhaier Sghaeir event held recently in the senior category.