Antim Panghal, Aman Sehrawat Enter Asian Games Wrestling Finals as India Eyes Four Medals

Antim produced an impressive run in the women’s 53kg category to become only the third Indian woman wrestler to reach an Asian Games final. The Hangzhou 2022 bronze medallist opened her campaign with a commanding 9-0 win over Kazakhstan’s Shugyla Omirbek before making similarly light work of Uzbekistan’s Sakibjamal Esbosynova, winning their quarterfinal 8-0.

The Indian then overcame China’s Jin Zhang 6-1 in the semifinals. After conceding the opening point, Antim took complete control of the bout and scored six unanswered points to secure her place in the gold-medal match.

She will face Japan’s Moe Kiyooka in the final at 4:02 p.m. IST. By reaching the summit clash, Antim has joined Geetika Jakhar and Vinesh Phogat as the only Indian women wrestlers to make an Asian Games final.

Aman Sehrawat also booked his place in a gold-medal bout after a series of dominant performances in the men’s freestyle 57kg category.

He began with a 20-9 technical superiority victory over Japan’s Yamato Ogawa and followed it up with a 12-1 quarterfinal win against Kazakhstan’s Nurdanat Aitanov.

The semifinal against Tajikistan’s Aiaal Belolyubskii proved far more challenging. Aman trailed 2-6 after the opening period but responded emphatically in the second, scoring 12 points while giving away only two to complete a remarkable 14-8 comeback.

Aman will now meet North Korea’s Chong Song Han in the final at 2:44 p.m. IST.

Sagar Jaglan and Deepak Punia, meanwhile, remain in medal contention after earning places in the bronze-medal bouts.

Sagar, competing in the men’s freestyle 74kg category, began with an 8-1 victory over Mongolia’s Tulga Tumur-Ochir. He was then beaten 0-10 by Iran’s Yones Emamichoghaei in the quarterfinals, but bounced back in the bronze bracket with a 7-3 victory over Uzbekistan’s Razambek Jamalov.

Deepak advanced in the men’s freestyle 97kg event with a 12-2 win over China’s Zhou Junpeng. He reached the semifinals without wrestling his quarterfinal after Hong Kong China’s Li Wui Fung Vincent failed to appear.

The semifinal against Uzbekistan’s Sherzod Poyonov was closely contested, but Deepak narrowly lost 8-9. He will now have a chance to finish his campaign with a bronze medal.

With Antim and Aman competing for gold and Sagar and Deepak still in the bronze-medal race, India has four wrestling medal opportunities on the final day of competition.