Amman: Seasoned Indian wrestler Manisha Bhanwala clinched India’s first gold medal at the Asian Championships since 2021 edition with a close 8-7 win over South Korea’s Ok J Kim while Antim Panghal settled for a bronze here on Friday.
Manisha (62kg) began with an easy technical superiority win over Kazakhstan’s Tynys Dubek and pinned Korea’s Hanbit Lee for another dominating win.The semifinal was no different, as she conceded only one point to eventually win 5-1 against Kalmira Bilimbek Kyzy.
In the title clash, Manisha looked down and out, trailing 2-7 but logged six points in a row to grab her first gold medal at the Asian Championships.
She had three podium finishes at the tournament before but they were all bronze medal efforts.
The 20-year-old Panghal, competing in her first international event after a disappointing show at the Paris Olympics, beat China’s Jin Zhang in the 53kg quarterfinal but was no match for Japan’s Moe Kiyooka, who won by technical superiority.
In the bronze playoff, she was dominant against CHinese Taipei’s Meng H Hsieh, winning by technical superiority without conceding a point.
Neha Sharma (57kg), Monika (65kg) and Jyoti Beriwal (72kg) could not reach the medal rounds.
Indian wrestlers have now won one gold, one silver and six bronze medals, including two by Greco Roman wrestlers in the tournament. The men’s freestyle competition will begin on Saturday.