Hansika Lamba and Neha won bronze medals in the women’s 55kg and 59kg freestyle categories, respectively, at the Asian Wrestling Championships 2026 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on Thursday.
In the 55kg division, Hansika Lamba beat Aruuke Kadyrbek Kyzy of Kyrgyzstan by a 6-1 scoreline to finish on the podium. Hansika had entered the medal bout after losing to Yuxuan Li of the People’s Republic of China in the semi-finals.
Neha, meanwhile, beat Mongolia’s Bolortuya Khurelkhuu 10-4 to secure her podium spot in the 59kg division.
Neelam, who had entered the repechage round of the 50kg division after losing to former Olympic champion Yui Susaki of Japan in the quarter-finals, failed to make her second chance count as she lost to China’s Ziqi Feng.
The two medals on Thursday took India’s total medal count at the continental meet to seven. The country’s Greco-Roman grapplers bagged five medals in the competition earlier.
On Friday, Indian women will have an opportunity to add to the count.
Meenakshi Goyat has already confirmed a medal in the women’s 53kg after making the final. She beat Uzbekistan’s Sakibjamal Esbosynova 15-4 and the Republic of Korea’s Seoyoung Park 4-2 to qualify for the gold medal bout.
She will face China’s Jin Zhang, a former U20 world champion, in the final.
Elsewhere, Manisha Bhanwala, a gold medal winner at last year’s Asian Wrestling Championships in the 62kg category, will have a shot at bronze in the 57kg this year. She has qualified for the repechage round after a defeat in the quarter-finals.
Mansi Ahlawat has also qualified for the repechage round in the 62kg category. Harshita will fight for bronze in the 72kg division after losing in the semi-finals.
A total of 30 Indian wrestlers – 10 each for women’s, men’s freestyle and Greco-Roman categories – are competing at the continental championships. Women’s freestyle wrestling will get underway on Wednesday.
Olympic medallist Aman Sehrawat is also part of the Indian wrestling squad and will begin his campaign on Saturday.
READ MORE: https://www.olympics.com/en/news/asian-wrestling-championships-2026-india-day-4-results
