Daijiworld Media Network - Bishkek

Bishkek, Apr 11: India’s Meenakshi Goyat clinched the silver medal in the women’s 53kg category at the Asian Wrestling Championships 2026 after going down in the final in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on Friday.

Meenakshi had a strong run to the final, defeating Uzbekistan’s Sakibjamal Esbosynova 15-4 in the quarterfinals and then overcoming Republic of Korea’s Seoyoung Park 4-2 in the semi-final. However, she fell short in the gold medal bout and had to settle for silver.

In other women’s events, Monika (65kg) and Harshita (72kg) secured bronze medals after winning their respective medal bouts, adding to India’s overall tally in the competition.

In the men’s freestyle category, India continued its strong performance with several wrestlers advancing to finals. Sujeet Kalkal will compete for gold against Uzbekistan’s Umidjon Jalolov, marking a rematch of their U23 World Championships final.

Abhimanyou Mandwal booked his place in the 70kg final after a 6-3 upset win over defending champion Ernazar Akmataliev of Kyrgyzstan. He will now face Mongolia’s Tömör-Ochiryn Tulga, the reigning Asian Games champion, in the final.

Sandeep Mann also reached the 79kg final with a commanding 10-0 victory over Tajikistan’s Somonjon Ikromov. He will take on Japan’s Keyvan Gharehdaghi in the gold medal clash.

Meanwhile, Ankush (57kg) and Vicky Hooda (97kg) will compete in bronze medal matches in their respective categories.

India has fielded a 30-member squad across men’s freestyle, women’s, and Greco-Roman categories. The Greco-Roman team has already secured five medals, including two silver and three bronze, while the women’s team has also contributed five medals overall.

Olympic medallist Aman Sehrawat is also part of the squad and is set to begin his campaign in the tournament.