Meenakshi Goyat of India settled for a silver medal at the 2026 Asian Wrestling Championships after losing the women's 53kg final in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, yesterday. Earlier, Meenakshi Goyat defeated South Korea's Seoyoung Park 4-2 in the semi-finals, and also beat Uzbekistan's Sakibjamal Esbosynova 15-4 in the quarter-finals. Meanwhile, Monika (65kg) and Harshita (72kg) won their respective bronze medal bouts to secure a place on the podium.
Sujeet Kalkal will face Uzbekistan's Umidjon Jalolov in the gold medal bout, setting up a rematch of the U23 World Championships final against the same opponent. Abhimanyou Mandwal qualified for the 70kg final after defeating defending champion Ernazar Akmataliev of Kyrgyzstan 6-3 in the semi-final. He will face Tömör-Ochiryn Tulga of Mongolia, the reigning Asian Games champion in the 65kg, in the gold medal bout. Sandeep Mann also qualified for the 79kg final after a dominant 10-0 win over Somonjon Ikromov of Tajikistan in the semi-finals.
The Indian wrestler will face Japan's Keyvan Gharehdaghi in the final today. Ankush (57kg) and Vicky Hooda (97kg) will compete in the bronze medal matches in their respective weight classes. India sent 30 wrestlers to the 2026 Asian Wrestling Championships, with 10 each in the men's freestyle, women's, and Greco-Roman categories. India's Greco-Roman wrestlers won five medals – two silvers and three bronzes. India's women also won five, including a silver and four bronzes. Olympic medallist Aman Sehrawat is also part of the Indian wrestling squad and will begin his campaign today.
