Asian Games 2026: Pincky Balhara wins her second Asian medal, adding Kurash bronze to 2018 silver

India’s Pincky Balhara, right, competes with South Korea’s Mo Sumin in the women’s 78kg kurash semifinal. (AP photo) NEW DELHI: India’s Pincky Balhara clinched her second medal of the Asian Games in kurash, winning bronze in the women’s 78kg category after losing 0-5 to South Korea’s Sumin Mo in the semi-finals in Aichi-Nagoya on Monday.The 27-year-old added yet another medal to her Asian Games collection, eight years after winning silver in the women’s 52kg category at the 2018 Jakarta Games, when Kurash made her debut at the continental event.Balhar’s latest podium finish marked India’s third Kurash medal at the Asian Games. The Indian reached the semi-finals after a 3-0 win over South Korea’s Garam Lim in the quarter-finals.Asian Games full coverage | Medal Tally | Schedule

Balhar’s second podium finish in Asia

Balhara began their campaign in the quarter-finals against Lima, where they secured a convincing 3-0 victory to book their place in the last four. The Indian produced the decisive score through the “Chala”, a scoring move awarded when a contestant throws an opponent but fails to show complete control of the action.Meanwhile, Lim did not register a point during the competition, allowing Balhara to advance to the semi-finals and challenge for another Asian Games medal.However, the Indian could not overcome Mo in the semi-finals. The South Korean secured a 5-0 win to end Balhara’s hopes of reaching the final and take home the bronze medal.Mo was awarded a ‘Yonbosh’ point during the contest, while Balhara was penalized by ‘Dakki’. The Indian could not recover from the disadvantage, as the South Korean controlled the match and thus sealed her progress to the final.

From silver from Jakarta to bronze from Aichi-Nagoya

Balhara first made her mark at the 2018 Asian Games when she won silver in the women’s 52kg category in Jakarta. Kurash was included in the program of the Games that year, giving Indian athletes the opportunity to compete for medals in the Uzbek martial art.Her silver medal was among India’s first successes in the discipline and her latest podium finish underlines her continued presence in the sport at the highest continental level.The Indian contingent added another medal thanks to Balhara’s performance on Monday, taking the total tally at the Games to 39, which includes four gold, 17 silver and 18 bronze medals.