GUWAHATI: Indian grappler Sunil Kumar won a bronze medal in the 87kg Greco-Roman event at the Asian Wrestling Championships in Amman, Jordan, on Tuesday. The win is another feather in his cap as he remains one of India's best Greco-Roman wrestlers.
Sunil beat China's Jiaxin Huang in the bronze medal match following a loss in the semifinals of the continental tournament. This is his fifth senior medal in the Asian Championships, affirming his consistency at the international stage.
Earlier in the tournament, Sunil showed his supremacy with a 10-1 win against Tajikistan's Sukhrob Abdulkhaev in the quarterfinals. He won all his points in the second half of the match, demonstrating his stamina and strategic mindset. But in the semifinals, he was narrowly defeated by Iran's Yasin Yazdi, who took a 3-1 victory to reach the final.
Sunil has been a prominent name in the Greco-Roman wrestling landscape of India. He brought an end to India's 27-year wait for a gold medal in Greco-Roman wrestling at the Asian Championships in 2020. He also won consecutive bronze medals in 2022 and 2023, demonstrating his capability to stay competitive at the top. Further, at the Hangzhou 2023 Asian Games, he captured India's first Greco-Roman wrestling medal, yet another testimonial to his place in Indian wrestling history.
At the same time, in the 77kg weight category, Indian grappler Sagar Thakran had won his qualifying match but then lost to Jordan's Amro Sadeh in the quarterfinals by a 10-0 margin.
Ahead, five more Indian Greco-Roman grapplers – Sumit (60kg), Neeraj (67kg), Kuldeep Malak (72kg), Rahul (82kg), and Nitesh (97kg) – will be in action on Wednesday. Also, India's Paris 2024 Olympic-bound wrestlers – Reetika Hooda (women's 76kg) and Antim Panghal (women's 53kg) – will be in action on Thursday and Friday, respectively.
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