Pincky Balhara claims a bronze medal to put India back on kurash podium of Asian Games

Pincky Balhara won the bronze medal in the women’s -78kg kurash event at the Asian Games 2026 in Aichi on Monday, becoming the first Indian to win two medals in the sport at the continental showpiece.

The medal also marked India’s return to the Asian Games kurash podium after drawing a blank at Hangzhou 2023. India won two medals when the sport made its Asian Games debut at Jakarta 2018, according to Olympics.com.

Pincky Balhara had assured herself of a medal earlier in the day after defeating the Republic of Korea’s Lim Garam 3-0 in the quarterfinals. Pics: X

The 27-year-old Indian lost 5-0 to the Republic of Korea’s Mo Sumin in the semifinals at the Aichi Prefectural Martial Arts Hall. Mo had won the women’s -70kg title at the 2026 Asian Senior Kurash Championships.

Both losing semifinalists receive bronze medals in kurash, with no separate third-place playoff. “I injured my right knee in my quarter-final bout,” Balhara said. “She was hitting in on my right knee. She knew that I am injured. That’s why I lost. I couldn’t do an attack.”

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Pincky Balhara had assured herself of a medal earlier in the day after defeating the Republic of Korea’s Lim Garam 3-0 in the quarterfinals. Lim was the silver medallist in the women’s -78kg at the 2025 Asian Senior Kurash Championships.

The bronze was Pincky Balhara’s second Asian Games medal. She had won silver in the women’s -52kg at Jakarta 2018, when kurash made its debut at the continental showpiece.

Pincky Balhara was previously a judoka and won gold at the 2018 Asian Junior Judo Championships. After missing out on a place in India’s judo squad for the Jakarta Asian Games, she qualified in kurash instead and went on to reach the final.

In Hangzhou, Pincky Balhara reached the women’s -52kg quarterfinals but missed out on a medal.

India fielded six athletes in kurash at Aichi-Nagoya 2026. Vishal, Yash Kumar Chauhan, Bharti and Sangita Balhara had bowed out earlier, while Vipin Kumar is scheduled to compete in the men’s -66kg event on Tuesday.