Summary of this article
Lalit stormed into the 55kg Greco-Roman final at the Asian Wrestling Championships 2026, defeating Huoying Shi 11-3
Aman (77kg) and Sunil Kumar (87kg) lost their respective semifinals and will fight for bronze
India endured a mixed opening day in Bishkek
The U-23 Asian Championships bronze medallist Lalit dominated China’s Huoying Shi to enter the men’s 55kg Greco Roman gold-medal match at the Asian Wrestling Championships in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan on Monday.
The 23-year-old Lalit outclassed Huoying Shi 11-3 in the semifinals.
But Aman (77kg, Greco Roman) and former champion Sunil Kumar (87kg, Greco Roman) went down in their respective semifinals on a mixed opening day for the Indian contingent.
They will contest for bronze on Tuesday.
Lalit, who had bagged the bronze medal in the Muhamet Malo Wrestling meet last month, will now take on 2025 Asian Championships bronze medallist Ikhtiyor Botirov of Uzbekistan after he defeated Ulan Uulu in the second semifinal 5-3.
In the 77kg Greco Roman semifinal, Aman went down against Zagreb Open old medallist Ali Oskou of Iran 13-3.
The Indian, who had reversed a 1-4 deficit to win 6-4 against China’s Halishan Bahejiang in the quarterfinals, will now face Yeonghun Noh of South Korea in the bronze-medal match.
The 2020 Asian champion Sunil Kumar will be going for his fourth medal at the continental championship but it will not be the yellow metal after he lost his 87kg bout against Gholamreza Farokhisenjani of Iran 0-8.
In the 65kg Greco Roman weight category, Sunny Kumar went down in the qualification round against Saifulla Kurman of Kazakhstan and was eliminated.
In the men’s 130kg Greco Roman category, Joginder Rathee went down in the quarterfinals against South Korea’s Minseok Kim.
The Korean then lost the semifinal against Mirzazadeh of Iran to end the Indian’s hope for a repechage round.
Five more Indians — Sahin (60kg), Sachin Sahrawat (67kg), Anil (72kg) and Prince (82kg) and Nitesh (87kg) will be in action - all in Greco Roman category — on Tuesday.
