Anshu Malik
Anshu Malik finally lost in the title bout after winning his earlier three bouts to clinch a silver medal in the 57kg category at the Asian Wrestling Championships on Friday, April 22.
Radhika won silver in 65kg category while Manisha won bronze in 62kg category. Anshu lost to Japan’s Sugumi Sakurai in the gold medal match.
The Indian dominated after winning all three of his bouts on technical superiority before losing to Sakurai in the 57kg final.
The 20-year-old defending champion from Haryana’s Nidani village put up a strong performance and played with her opponents to assure herself a third Asian Championship medal.
She had won bronze in the 2020 edition at home and won the 57kg title in Almaty last year.
Anshu, who became the first Indian female wrestler to reach a World Championship final last year, started off with a win over Uzbekistan’s Shokhida Akhmedova followed by another dominating victory against Singapore’s Danielle Soo Ching Lim, who was her best. Appeared at sea against an Indian rival. ,
Anshu hardly gave his rivals time to think or strategize as he easily stepped back to dodge them. She defeated Mongolia’s Bolortuya Khurelkhuu in the semi-finals, which began with a four-point throw followed by a double leg attack.
Easy take-downs and push-out points meant that the last-four stage bout ended in just two minutes and 12 seconds. Radhika won silver medal in Round 5 match against Kazakhstan’s Dariga Aben.
Meanwhile, Manisha settled for bronze after losing to Korea’s Hanbit Lee. The Indian women, who have been doing well in the 62kg category in domestic events for quite some time, crashed out of the gold medal hunt after losing to Japan’s Nonoka Ozaki in the semi-finals in just 40 seconds.
Ozaki caught him in a leg-less move early in the competition and ended the match in a jiffy.
Manisha got off to a great start with a 9-0 win over Kazakhstan’s Ayaulim Kasimova. Meanwhile, Swati Shinde (53kg) crashed out of the medal race after losing both her bouts on technical superiority.