Astana (Kazakhstan): Aman Sehrawat bagged the first gold of the Asian Wrestling Championship, while Deepak Mirca won the bronze medal on a productive day for India in the competition on Thursday.
Aman Sehrawat defeated Kyrgyzstan’s Almaz Smanbekov 9-4 in the 57kg freestyle final to bag a gold medal in his maiden appearance in the competition,
Sehrawat opened his campaign with a 7-1 win over Japan’s Rikuto Arai in the quarterfinals. In the semifinal bout, he got the better of China’s Zou Wanhao by a 7-4 scoreline.
Sehrawat is the current U-23 World Champion in his weight category and also a TOPS athlete.
He has so far won the lone gold for India in the 36th edition of the Asian Wrestling Championships of combined events, which started on April 9 and will end on Friday (April 14), according to information reaching here.
Sehrawat’s victory in Astana ensured the men’s freestyle 57kg gold medal stayed with India for the fourth year running. Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Ravi Kumar Dahiya won the category in 2020, 2021 and 2022. Sehrawat was included in the Indian team as Ravi Dahiya pull out with an injury.
Deepak Mirka defeated Tajikistan’s Shuhrat Bozorov 12-1 in the 79kg freestyle bronze medal bout by Technical Superiority.
The two medals took India’s tally in this tournament to 13 medals — one gold, three silver and nine bronze medals.
Rupin Gahlawat (men’s 55kg Greco-Roman), Antim Panghal (Women’s 53kg freestyle) and Nisha Dahiya (Women’s 68 kg freestyle) won the three silver medals for India in this competition so far.
–IANS