Sunil Kumar opened India’s medal account at the ongoing 2025 Senior Asian Wrestling Championship in Amman, Jordan.
On Tuesday, the championship witnessed intense action as bouts in five weight categories of the Greco-Roman style took place. India’s Sunil Kumar (87kg) delivered a remarkable performance to secure a bronze medal for the country, defeating China’s Jiaxin Huang with a 3-1 scoreline.
Sunil began his campaign with a dominant 10-1 victory over Tajikistan’s Sukhrob AbdulKhaev but fell short in the semifinals against Iran’s Yasin Ali Yazdi. In a closely contested match, Yasin secured a 3-1 win, ending Sunil’s hopes of competing for the gold medal.
This achievement marks Sunil’s fifth senior medal at the Asian Wrestling Championships. He won a silver medal in 2019 and ended India’s 27-year-long wait for a Greco-Roman gold at the Asian Championships in 2020. He also claimed consecutive bronze medals in 2022 and 2023. At the Asian Games Hangzhou 2023, Sunil earned India’s first Asian Games medal in Greco-Roman wrestling since Ravinder Singh and Sunil Kumar Rana’s bronze medal triumphs at Guangzhou 2010.
The remaining four Indian Greco-Roman wrestlers in action on Tuesday were Nitin (55kg), Umesh (63kg), Sagar Thakran (77kg), and Prem (130kg). Nitin, Umesh, and Prem were eliminated in the qualification rounds, while Sagar suffered a heartbreaking loss via technical superiority against Jordan’s Amro Sadeh in the quarter-finals.
On Wednesday, five more Greco-Roman wrestlers—Sumit (60kg), Neeraj (67kg), Kuldeep Malak (72kg), Rahul (82kg), and Nitesh (97kg)—will take the mat.
India’s Paris 2024 Olympians Reetika Hooda (women’s 76kg) and Antim Panghal (women’s 53kg) will compete on Thursday and Friday, respectively.
(ANI)
