DEEPAK PUNIA WINS SILVER, VIKY CLAIMS BRONZE; INDIA FINISH WITH 17 MEDALS

ULAANBAATAR [MONGOLIA]: Star Indian wrestler Deepak Punia grabbed the men’s freestyle 86kg silver medal Viky bagged a bronze in the 92kg category at the Asian Wrestling Championships 2022 in Ulaanbaatar on Sunday. With the two medals on the final day of the meet, India finished with a total tally of 17 medals, one gold, five silvers and 11 bronze, at the Mongolian capital. Tokyo Olympic medallist Ravi Kumar Dahiya won the solitary gold in the men’s 57kg weight class. Tokyo Olympian Deepak Punia started his campaign with a 6-0 win over Iranian grappler Mohsen Miryousef Mostafavi Alanjagh before defeating South Korean Olympian Kim Gwanuk 5-0 in the semi-finals.

Kazakhstan’s Azamat Dauletbekov got better of Punia in the gold medal match with a scoreline of 6-1. With this Indian grappler had to settle for a silver medal at the Asian meet for the second consecutive year. In the 92kg competition, India’s Viky defeated Uzbek grappler Ajiniyaz Saparniyazov by 5-3 in the bronze medal match.

Indian medallists at Asian Wrestling Championships 2022 –

Greco Roman: Sunil Kumar (87kg) – bronze, Arjun Halakurki (55kg) – bronze, Neeraj (63kg) – bronze, Harpreet Singh (82kg) – bronze, and Sachin Sahrawat (67kg) – bronze.

Women’s freestyle: Sarita Mor (59kg) – bronze, Sushma Shokeen (55kg) – bronze, Manisha (62kg) – bronze, Anshu Malik (57kg) – silver, and Radhika (65kg) – silver.

Men’s freestyle: Ravi Kumar Dahiya (57kg) – gold, Bajrang Punia (65kg) – silver, Gourav Baliyan (79kg) – silver, Naveen (70kg) – bronze, Satywart Kadian (97kg) – bronze, Deepak Punia (86kg) – silver, and Viky (92kg) – bronze.