Indian grappler Sunil Kumar took home a bronze medal from the Asian Wrestling Championships in Amman, Jordan, in the 87kg Greco-Roman division. The victory adds to his already impressive resume as one of India’s top Greco-Roman wrestlers. In the bronze medal match, Sunil defeated Jiaxin Huang of China after losing in the continental competition semifinals. He has already won five senior medals at the Asian Championships, demonstrating his reliability on the global scene. Sunil defeated Tajikistan’s Sukhrob Abdulkhaev 10-1 in the quarterfinals of the event to demonstrate his dominance.
He showed his endurance and strategic thinking by winning every point in the second part of the game. However, Yasin Yazdi of Iran upset him by a slim margin in the semifinals, winning 3-1 to get to the final. In India’s Greco-Roman wrestling scene, Sunil has been a well-known figure. At the 2020 Asian Championships, he ended India’s 27-year wait for a Greco-Roman wrestling gold medal. In 2022 and 2023, he also won back-to-back bronze medals, proving that he could remain competitive at the highest level.
Meanwhile, Indian wrestler Sagar Thakran had won his qualifying bout in the 77kg weight class, but he was defeated 10-0 by Jordan’s Amro Sadeh in the quarterfinals. Five more Indian Greco-Roman grapplers are scheduled to compete on Wednesday: Sumit (60 kg), Neeraj (67 kg), Kuldeep Malak (72 kg), Rahul (82 kg), and Nitesh (97 kg). Additionally, Reetika Hooda (women’s 76 kg) and Antim Panghal (women’s 53 kg), two wrestlers from India who are headed to the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, will compete on Thursday and Friday, respectively.
