Published: October 1, 2026 at 9:00 pm
Nitesh Siwach helped India win a Greco-Roman 97kg gold medal after a long wait of 64 years, while Mansi Ahlawat missed out on a medal in the women’s 62kg at the Asian Games in Nagoya on Thursday.
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Nitesh went down to Japan’s Yuri Nakazato 4-0 in the final at the Nagoya City Inae Sports Center but secured India’s first Asian Games silver medal in Greco-Roman wrestling in 64 years. The 23-year-old Nitesh also became the first Indian wrestler to contest a standalone Greco-Roman gold-medal bout at the Asian Games.
Sunil wins bronze in 87kg Greco-Roman event as India open their wrestling account
India won Greco-Roman gold and silver medals at Jakarta 1962, when the wrestling style made its Asian Games debut. India won two gold medals at that edition through Malwa Singh (52kg) and Ganpat Andalkar (+97kg). Udey Chand (70kg), Sajjan Singh (87kg) and Maruti Mane (97kg) won silver medals.
No Indian Greco-Roman wrestler won an Asian Games silver medal since. Nitesh, a silver medallist at the 2026 Asian Wrestling Championships, received a direct entry into the quarterfinals at Aichi-Nagoya and opened his campaign with a 7-1 win over Turkmenistan’s Amanberdi Agamammedov.
He then produced a dominant display against Asian Games medallist Gankhuyag Ganbaatar of Mongolia in the semi-finals, winning 9-0 by technical superiority in the opening period to advance to the gold-medal bout.
On Wednesday, Sunil Kumar won the bronze in the 87kg to become the first Indian wrestler in Greco-Roman to win two Asian Games medals. He had also taken bronze at Hangzhou 2023.
Mansi Ahlawat lost to Mongolia’s Altjin Togtokh 5-2 in the women’s 62kg bronze medal bout. Pics: X
Meanwhile, Mansi Ahlawat lost to Mongolia’s Altjin Togtokh 5-2 in the women’s 62kg bronze medal bout. Mansi began her campaign with a 6-1 win over Kazakhstan’s Irina Kuznetsova in the round of 16 before beating the Republic of Korea’s Subeen Jo by fall in the quarterfinals.
Her run to the gold-medal bout was stopped by Japan’s Nonoka Ozaki, who won their semifinal 6-0. Ozaki is an Olympic medallist and a two-time world champion.
Meanwhile, India’s Sumit Dalal and Aman Baroniya were eliminated from Greco-Roman wrestling earlier on Thursday. Sumit’s 60kg quarterfinal against Iran’s Sajjad Abbaspourragani finished 1-1, with the Iranian progressing on criteria.
Aman opened his 77kg campaign with an 8-6 win over Mongolia’s Borgil Tuvshinbaatar before losing 9-0 by technical superiority to Qatar’s Shahin Badaghimofrad in the quarterfinals.
India’s freestyle campaign begins on Friday, with reigning Asian champion Sujeet Kalkal competing in the men’s 65kg event. Rajat Ruhal (125kg), Dipanshi (50kg) and Priya Malik (76kg) will also be in action.
Aman Sehrawat will compete in the men’s freestyle 57kg on Saturday, the final day of wrestling. Antim Panghal (53kg), Manisha Bhanwala (57kg), Sagar Jaglan (74kg) and Deepak Punia (97kg) will also be in action.
