India’s Greco-Roman wrestlers made an impressive start at the Asian Wrestling Championships 2026 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on Monday, with Lalit storming into the 55kg final and two others earning bronze medal bouts.
The 23-year-old Lalit dominated People’s Republic of China’s Huoying Shi in the semi-finals to register an 11-3 victory before Aman (77kg) and former Asian champion Sunil Kumar (87kg) went down in their respective semi-finals.
Lalit, who won the bronze medal in the Muhamet Malo Wrestling meet last month and is a U23 Asian Championship bronze medallist, will now take on 2025 Asian Championships medal winner Ikhtiyor Botirov of Uzbekistan in the final.
In the 77kg Greco-Roman semi-final, Aman went down against Zagreb Open gold medallist Ali Oskou of the Islamic Republic of Iran 13-3.
The Indian wrestler, who had reversed a 4-1 deficit to win 6-4 against China’s Halishan Bahejiang in the quarter-finals, will now face Yeonghun Noh of the Republic of Korea in his bronze medal match.
Sunil Kumar, the 2020 Asian champion, lost his semi-final against Gholamreza Farokhisenjani of Iran 8-0.
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 130kg category, Joginder Rathee went down in the quarter-finals against South Korea’s Minseok Kim, who lost in the semis to end Rathee’s repechage hopes.
The remaining five Indian Greco-Roman wrestlers – Sahil (60kg), Sachin Sahrawat (67kg), Anil (72kg), Prince (82kg) and Nitesh (97kg) – will begin their campaign on Tuesday.
A total of 30 Indian wrestlers – 10 each for women’s, men’s freestyle and Greco-Roman categories – are competing at the continental championships.
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-1-results
