Indian wrestler Sunil Kumar secured a bronze medal in the 87kg Greco-Roman category at the Asian Championship in Amman, Jordan, on Tuesday.
Sunil beat China’s Jiaxin Huang in the bronze medal match after losing in the semifinals of the 87kg bout in the continental tournament.
This was Sunil Kumar’s fifth senior medal at the Asian Wrestling Championships.
Sunil, a silver medallist in 2019 who is looking to regain some of his old magic, had earlier registered a 10-1 victory over Tajikistan’s Sukhrob Abdulkhaev in the quarterfinal. He scored all his points in the second period of the match.
In the semi-final bout, Iran’s Yasin Yazdi advanced to the 87kg final by defeating Sunil with a score of 3-1.
He ended India’s 27-year-long wait for a gold medal in Greco-Roman wrestling at the Asian Championships in 2020.
The Indian grappler also clinched successive bronze medals in 2022 and 2023.
At Hangzhou 2023, Sunil Kumar won India’s first Asian Games medal in Greco-Roman wrestling.
In the 77kg category, Sagar Thakran won his qualification match but was later defeated by Jordan’s Amro Sadeh 10-0 in the quarterfinals.
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The remaining five Greco-Roman wrestlers – Sumit (60kg), Neeraj (67kg), Kuldeep Malak (72kg), Rahul (82kg), and Nitesh (97kg) – will be in action on Wednesday.
India’s Paris 2024 Olympians Reetika Hooda (women’s 76kg) and Antim Panghal (women’s 53kg) will take the mat on Thursday and Friday, respectively.
