India won 6 medals in the event, won the freestyle double gold after 48 years

For 48 years, India waited to see two men’s freestyle wrestlers win gold at the same Asian Games. Aman Sehrawat and Sujeet Kalkal finally ended that wait in Nagoya, leading India to six match medals in one of their strongest campaigns at the continental showpiece.

Aman completed a historic double on Saturday, beat reigning world champion Chong Song Han of North Korea 11-7 in a thrilling men’s 57kg final to turn his Hangzhou bronze into gold.

Sujeet set it up a day earlier with his dramatic 65kg triumph. Together, their victory gave India two men’s freestyle champions at the Asian Games for the first time since 1978.

India finished with two gold, two silver and two bronze medals. It was a significant turnaround from the Hangzhou 2023 Games, where the wrestling contingent did not win gold.

AMAN HOLDS NERVES IN THRILLER

Han made Aman’s life difficult from the start, repeatedly locking his arms and refusing to allow the Indian to open easily. Aman was eventually enrolled in activity classes and took the opportunity to earn his first points. He followed with a takedown to move ahead 4-1 before finding another opening with a left leg attack to drop Han to the mat for a 6-1 lead.

Han received treatment on his left knee, but returned to the mat and changed the look of the finals. Three consecutive scoring drives put the North Koreans up 7-6, leaving Aman with work to do.

The Indian wrestler did not panic. He responded with two takedowns to regain the lead and move within touching distance of the gold. Han contested the last point awarded to Aman, but lost the appeal, giving the Indian another point to seal an 11-7 victory.

Aman earlier beat Tajikistan’s Aiaal Belolyubskii 14-8 in the semi-finals. He opened his campaign with a 20-9 technical victory over Japan’s Yamato Ogawa before defeating Kazakhstan’s Nurdanat Aitanov in the quarter-finals. The 23-year-old now has Asian Games gold to go with the Olympic bronze he won in Paris 2024.

COMEBACK SUJEET BRINGS GOLD

Sujeet has already given India its first men’s freestyle gold games with a remarkable comeback in Friday’s 65 kg final. The Indian trailed Abdulmazhid Kudiyev of Tajikistan 2-9 before scoring eight unanswered points to win 10-9.

Kudiev initially kept Sujeet quiet with arm locks and physical access. But the Indian gradually worked out his opponent and began to use his speed to repeatedly get behind him for takedowns. The comeback brought Sujeet another major title in a year in which he continued to push the envelope in the 65kg category.

NITESH MAKES GRECO-ROMAN HISTORY

India’s two silver medals came through Nitesh Siwach in Greco-Roman men 97 kg and Antim Panghal in women 53 kg. Nitesh lost 4-0 to Japan’s Yuri Nakazato in the final, but his run to the gold medal match was historic.

The 23-year-old became the first Indian wrestler to compete in an individual Greco-Roman gold event at the Asian Games. His silver was India’s first medal in Greco-Roman wrestling at the Games since 1962 when India won gold and silver at the debut of the style at the Asian Games.

ANTIMO’S GOLD OFFER ENDS IN DISAPPOINTMENT

Antim Panghal could not go better than her bronze from Hangzhou. The Indian was beaten 1-9 by Japan’s Mei Miyook in the women’s 53kg final, with the 2024 world champion never allowing Anti to settle into her attacking game.

Antim tried to attack with his right foot in the second period, but Miyooka quickly countered before going ahead with four pointers to make it 9-1. Only Vinesh Phogat had previously won an Asian Games gold for India in women’s wrestling when he won the 50kg title at the 2018 Jakarta Games.

DEEPAK REFLECTS FOR BRONZE

Deepak Punia added another Asian Games medal to his collection with a 2-1 victory over Mongolia’s Gankhuyang Ganbataar in the men’s 97kg bronze medal match. The 27-year-old won silver in Hangzhou, moving from 86kg to 97kg at the Games.

He started by winning a 12-2 technical victory over China’s Junpeng Zhou, before seeing off Hong Kong’s Vincent Fung Wui Li. Deepak then suffered a narrow 8–9 defeat to Uzbekistan’s Sherzod Poyonov in the semi-finals, but recovered to secure the bronze. The medal adds to a career that already includes silver at the 2019 World Championships and five medals at the Asian Championships.

SAGAR, MANISHA IS MISSING

Sagar Jaglan reached the men’s 74kg quarter-finals with an 8-1 win over Mongolia’s Tulga Tumur-Ochir, but lost by TKO to Iran’s Yones Emamichoghaei.

He battled back through the repechage with a 7-3 win over Uzbekistan’s Razambek Jamalov, but lost the bronze medal match to Kazakhstan’s Nurkozh Kaipanov by fall within seconds.

Manisha Bhanwala was also absent in the women’s 57 kg category.

In her opening match, she defeated Korea’s Youngjin Kwon by fall, but lost 0–3 to Olympic champion Akari Fujina of Japan in the quarterfinals. Fujinam’s failure to reach the final ended Manish’s hopes of a rematch.

But by then, India’s wrestling campaign had secured its place in the record books. Aman and Sujeet brought home two golds in men’s freestyle, something Indian wrestling had not seen at the Asian Games since 1978.

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