Asian Games: Sunil Kumar bags India’s first medal in 13 years in men’s Greco-Roman 87kg

HANGZHOU: Sunil Kumar bagged India’s first medal in Men’s Greco-Roman 87kg in almost 13 years in the Asian Games after getting better of Kyrgyzstan’s Atabek Azisbekov on Wednesday.

Atabek took the lead in the first round after Sunil was called for passivity, the Indian was forced to defend from the upside-down position and managed to keep the deficit to just a single point.

Sunil levelled the game after the Kyrgyzstan wrestler was called for passivity and made the score one-all.

Atabek managed to momentarily gain two points by pushing Sunil out of bounds to take a 3-1 lead. The Indian challenged the decision and got it overturned to bring the scoreline back to 1-1.

Sunil was ahead on the criteria and got the decisive point in the final moments of the match. Sunil clinched the bronze medal in the category.

Sports Minister Anurag Thakur praised Sunil for opening India’s medal account in wrestling.

“India’s QUEST IN WRESTLING BEGINS WITH A BRONZE! Huge congratulations to Sunil Kumar for his impressive performance in the Men’s Greco-Roman 87Kg category at the #AsianGames2022, securing a well-deserved With grit and determination, our #TOPScheme held his ground and displayed unwavering confidence on the mat. His victory marks a significant achievement, giving the nation its first medal in Greco-Roman at the #AsianGames since 2010! Great effort from Sunil, setting a strong start for our wrestling contingent,” Anurag Thakur wrote in a post on X.

Earlier in the day, Sunil suffered a defeat to Iran’s Naser Alizadeh by 5-1 via Victory by Points (VPO1). (ANI)