Asian tiger: Aman clinches India’s 1st gold

Astana, April 13

Aman Sehrawat clinched India’s first gold medal at the ongoing Asian Wrestling Championships after beating Kyrgyzstan’s Almaz Smanbekov in the 57kg category here today.

Sehrawat, who continued to impress on the senior circuit, beat Smanbekov 9-4 in the summit clash on the penultimate day of the championships.

Sehrawat, who trains at Delhi’s famed Chhatrasal Stadium, had earlier beaten Japan’s Rikuto Arai 7-1 in the quarterfinals before defeating China’s Wanhao Zou 7-4 in the semifinals.

It was the second podium finish of the 2023 season for Sehrawat, who had won a bronze medal at the Zagreb Open in February. He had won the U-23 World Championships title last year, and the Cadet World Championships gold in 2021.

Later in the day, Deepak Kukna won the bronze medal in the 79kg category. Deepak defeated Tajikistan’s Shuhrat Bozorov 12-1. The Indian bounced back well after his 0-10 defeat against Uzbekistan’s Bekzod Abdurakhmonov in the semifinals.

Deepak Nehra, however, missed out on a bronze medal in the 97kg category. The Indian went down after a close battle against Uzbekistan’s Makhsud Veysalov, losing 9-12.

Anuj Kumar (65kg) and Mulayam Yadav (70kg) could not reach the medal round. Anuj lost 0-10 to Uzbekistan’s Umidjon Jalolov in the quarterfinals, while Mulayam was beaten 14-4 by Japan’s Yoshinosuke Aoyagi in the repechage round.

India have won 13 medals so far in the competition. The Greco-Roman wrestlers won four medals while the women grapplers grabbed seven.