Aman upgrades bronze to gold, Antim settles for silver in wrestling medals
Aman Sehrawat upgraded his Asian Games bronze to gold while Antim Panghal’s bid to become only the second Indian woman wrestler to win the continental title ended in disappointment after being outclassed by Japan’s Mei Miyooka here on Saturday.
India signed off with six medals -- two gold, two silver and two bronze --in one of the best shows in the tournament, especially after missing out on top-of-the-podium place in Hangzhou Games in 2023.
Aman, who had won bronze at the 2023 Hangzhou Games, held his nerve to beat North Korea’s reigning World Champion Chong Song Han 10-7 in the men’s 57kg final.
This was India’s second wrestling gold after Sujeet Kalkal’s sensational title win on Friday. India have won two golds at Asian Games after the 2018 Jakarta Games, when Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat had triumphed in their respective men’s and women’s events.
The 23-year-old Sehrawat was initially frustrated by Han’s defensive approach, with the North Korean repeatedly locking his arms to prevent attacks.
Aman was put on the clock, from where he got his first scoring move and followed it with a takedown to make it 4-1. He converted another left-leg attack into points, throwing Han to the mat for a 6-1 lead.
Han took treatment on his left knee but returned to produce three consecutive scoring moves after the resumption, taking a slender 7-6 lead. Aman, however, responded with two more takedowns to regain control and seal the gold at 10-7.
Han challenged the final point awarded to Aman but lost the appeal, conceding another point.
The Indian had earlier beaten Tajikistan’s Aiaal Belolyubskii 14-8 in the semifinals after opening his campaign with a 20-9 technical superiority win over Japan’s Yamato Ogawa and then defeating Kazakhstan’s Nurdanat Aitanov in the quarterfinals.
Aman’s gold adds an Asian Games title to the Olympic bronze he won at Paris.
Antim, who had also won bronze at Hangzhou, could not emulate Aman as she suffered a 1-9 defeat against 2024 World Champion Miyooka.
The Japanese did not allow Antim a single solid attacking move. The Indian attempted a right-leg attack in the second period but Miyooka responded with quick counter-attacks before converting a four-pointer at 5-1 to take an unassailable 9-1 lead. Only Vinesh Phogat had previously won an Asian Games gold for India in women’s wrestling, when she claimed the 50kg title at the 2018 Jakarta Games.
Deepak Punia added a bronze in the men’s 97kg category, beating Mongolia’s Gankhuyang Ganbataar 2-1.
The 27-year-old, who had won silver at Hangzhou, had earlier reached the semifinals with a 12-2 technical superiority win over China’s Junpeng Zhou and a walkover from Hong Kong’s Vincent Fung Wui Li, before losing 8-9 to Uzbekistan’s Sherzod Poyonov.
The Indian challenge experienced mixed fortunes elsewhere. Sagar Jaglan reached the 74kg quarterfinals with an 8-1 win over Mongolia’s Tulga Tumur-Ochir but lost to Iran’s Yones Emamichoghaei by technical superiority.
He entered the bronze bout after beating Uzbekistan’s Razambek Jamalov 7-3 in the repechage but lost to Kazakhstan’s Nurkozha Kaipanov by fall within seconds.
Manisha Bhanwala exited the women’s 57kg medal race after losing 0-3 to Olympic champion Japan’s Akari Fujinami in the quarterfinals. She had earlier beaten Korea’s Youngjin Kwon by fall, but Fujinami’s failure to reach the final ended her hopes of a repechage route.
