India’s Meenakshi Goyat settled for a silver medal at the Asian Wrestling Championships 2026 after losing the women’s 53kg final in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, yesterday. Earlier, Meenakshi Goyat beat the Republic of Korea’s Seoyoung Park 4-2 in the semi-finals after getting the better of Uzbekistan’s Sakibjamal Esbosynova 15-4 in the last eight clash. Meanwhile, Monika (65kg) and Harshita (72kg) won their respective bronze medal bouts to finish on the podium. 

 

Sujeet Kalkal will take on Uzbekistan’s Umidjon Jalolov in the gold-medal bout, setting up a rematch of the U23 World Championships final against the very same opponent. Abhimanyou Mandwal qualified for the 70kg final after stunning 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 entered the 79kg final after a dominant 10-0 win over Somonjon Ikromov of Tajikistan in the semi-finals. 

 

The Indian wrestler will take on 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 for the 2026 Asian Wrestling Championships, with 10 each in the men’s freestyle, women’s, and Greco-Roman categories. India’s Greco-Roman wrestlers finished the continental meet with five medals – two silvers and three bronze. India’s women also won five, which included a silver and four bronze. Olympic medallist Aman Sehrawat is also part of the Indian wrestling squad and will begin his campaign today.