Asian Wrestling Championships 2025: Nitesh scripts bronze medal win; Neeraj misses out

AMMAN (Jordan): Nitesh added a second medal to India’s account in the ongoing Asian Wrestling Championships 2025 by scripting a bronze medal triumph in the Greco-Roman 97kg weight division in Amman, Jordan.

The 22-year-old grappler ousted Kazakhstan’s Ilyas Guchigov 9-0 via technical superiority (VSU) in his opening match. He stormed into the semifinals with high spirits but suffered a defeat with the same scoreline against the reigning Olympic champion, Mohammad Hadi Saravi of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Following the defeat, Nitesh’s only shot at finishing on the podium was securing a victory in the bronze medal clash. He upped the ante and defeated Turkmenistan’s Amanberdi Agamammedov with a 9-0 (VSU) scoreline to bag India’s second medal in the ongoing competition. Previously, Sunil Kumar clinched a bronze in the Greco-Roman 87kg weight division on Tuesday.

Indian grappler Sunil Kumar won a bronze medal in the 87kg Greco-Roman event at the Asian Wrestling Championships in Amman, Jordan#IndianBoxing#Wrestling#Sports#Olympics pic.twitter.com/9Gwo0TeOuT

— Alishmita Goswami (@AlishmitaG57234) March 27, 2025

India’s Sunil Kumar (87 Kg) performed remarkably to secure a bronze medal for the country by ousting China’s Jiaxin Huang by a 3-1 scoreline. On his journey to the podium, Sunil defeated Tajikistani grappler Sukhrob AbdulKhaev with a stunning 10-1 victory but fell short in the semi-finals against Iran’s Yasin Ali Yazdi.

In the top-podium clash, Mohammad Hadi Saravi defeated Japan’s Yuri Nakazato in the 97kg final for the gold medal. The remaining four Indian Greco-Roman wrestlers, Sumit (60kg), Neeraj (67kg), Kuldeep Malak (72kg), and Rahul (82kg), returned empty-handed.

Out of the four, Neeraj made it to the bronze medal match through repechage after losing to Razzak Beishekeev of Kyrgyzstan via technical superiority in the quarterfinals. However, he lost against Japan’s Asian Games champion, Katsuaki Endo, 5-0, to lose out on a medal. Neeraj had begun his campaign with a 3-1 win over Iraq’s Ali Abbas Mukasr Albidhan.

India’s Paris 2024 Olympians Reetika Hooda (women’s 76kg) and Antim Panghal (women’s 53kg) will make their presence felt on the mat on Thursday and Friday, respectively. (ANI)