Nitesh Siwach went down in the final of the 97kg category as Indian Greco-Roman wrestlers added three more medals to their tally at the Asian Wrestling Championships 2026 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on Wednesday. Prince and Sachin Sahrawat won bronze medals.
Nitesh Siwach lost 7-1 to defending champion Mohammadhadi Saravi of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the gold medal bout of the 97kg category.
It was a colour upgrade for Nitesh, who had settled for a bronze in the same division last year. It was Saravi who had halted the Indian wrestler’s run on that occasion too by beating him in the semifinals.
Prince, meanwhile, claimed the bronze medal in the 82kg Greco-Roman category after defeating Didar Ammanazarov of Turkmenistan 10-1 in a one-sided contest The 20-year-old Indian wrestler had lost to Iran’s Mohammadamin Hosseini in the semifinals to qualify for the bronze medal match.
Lalit wins Greco-Roman silver, Sunil Kumar bags bronze at Asian Wrestling meet
Sachin Sahrawat also earned his spot in the 67kg podium after winning back-to-back bouts. He first beat the People’s Republic of China’s Ji Leng 9-4 in the repechage round before edging out Uzbekistan grappler Abdumalik Aminov 6-5 in his bronze medal bout.
The three medals from Wednesday meant Indian Greco-Roman wrestlers finished the continental championship with a rich haul of five medals. Lalit Sehrawat had bagged the silver in the 55kg division while Sunil Kumar took bronze in the 87kg on Tuesday.
Women’s freestyle competitions kick off
The women’s freestyle competitions also kicked off on Wednesday.
Neelam entered the repechage rounds of the 50kg division after losing to former Olympic champion Yui Susaki of Japan in the quarterfinals.
In the 55kg division, Hansika Lamba set up a bronze medal clash with Aruuke Kadyrbek Kyzy of Kyrgyzstan after losing in the semis to Yuxuan Li of China.
Neha qualified for the 59kg bronze medal bout and will face Mongolia’s Bolortuya Khurelkhuu for the podium spot.
Mansi Lather and Kajal lost in the quarterfinals of the 68kg and 76kg categories, respectively.
