Asian Wrestling Championships 2022: Ravi Dahiya clinches gold; Bajrang Punia, Gourav Baliyan settle for silver in freestyle wrestling

Asian Wrestling Championships 2022: Indian wrestler Ravi Kumar Dahiya clinched the gold medal at the Asian Wrestling Championships 2022 in Ulaanbaatar on April 23, 2022. This is Ravi Kumar Dahiya’s third straight Asian Championships title. He registered a comprehensive 12-2 win by technical superiority over Kazakhstan’s Rakhat Kalzhan in the 57kg men’s freestyle final. Dahiya had reached the final after beating Mongolia’s Zanabazar Zanadanbud in the semifinals.

Ravi Dahiya is the only Indian gold medallist in the 2022 Asian Wrestling Championships. Other Indian wrestlers Bajrang Punia and Gourav Baliyan settled for silver after losing their respective finals at the championship. Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist and top-seeded Bajrang Punia lost 1-3 to junior world champion Rahman Mousa Amouzadkhalili in the men’s 65kg freestyle final. Punia was in scintillating form had swept through his previous bouts with great ease. He ousted Uzbekistan’s Abbos Rakhmonov and Haji Mohamad Ali of Bahrain to book his place in the final but went down against the junior world champion.

Gourav Baliyan lost to Ali Bhaktiar Savadkouhi of Iran in the men’s 79kg final despite a terrific comeback to make it 9-9 right at the end of the bout. This is Gourav Baliyan’s second silver medal at the Asian Championships, as he was the runner-up in the 2020 championship as well.

Two other Indian wrestlers Naveen and Satywart Kadian clinched a bronze each at the continental championship. Overall, all five Indian freestyle wrestlers in action on the fifth day of the championship returned with medals, taking India’s medal tally to 15. Naveen won bronze after defeating Mongolia’s Temuulen Enkhtuya in the men’s 70 kg freestyle wrestling event. He had lost in the quarter-finals but fought for third place. Satywart Kadian defeated Turkmenistan’s Zyyamuhammet Saparov in the men’s 97 kg freestyle event by technical superiority. 

World silver medallist Deepak Punia will be in action today,  which is the last day of the championship.

Greco-Roman Event

Overall, 10  Indian Greco-Roman wrestlers participated in the Greco-Roman events at the championship in Ulaanbaatar. They concluded their campaign with 5 bronze medals. Five Greco-Roman wrestlers – Sunil Kumar (87kg), Arjun Halakurki (55kg), Neeraj (63kg), Sachin (67kg) and Harpreet (60kg) won bronze in their respective weight divisions. 

Women’s Wrestling

In the women’s wrestling event, India won five medals including two silver and three bronze. Anshu Malik settled for silver after losing the women’s 57kg finals against Japan’s Tsugumi Sakurai and Radhika Jaglan also won silver after losing against Japan’s Miwa Morikawa in the 65kg finals. The three women wrestlers who won bronze include Sarita Mor in the 59kg event, Manisha Bhanwala in 62 kg and Sushma Shokeen in the 55kg event. 

Asian Wrestling Championships 2022 Medal Table: Check Ranking of Top 8 Nations

Asian Wrestling Championships 2022: Event-wise Team Ranking

Asian Wrestling Championships 2022: Indian Medalists

Asian Wrestling Championships 2022

The Asian Wrestling Championships 2022  is the 35th edition of the tournament and it began on April 19 and will conclude on April 24 at Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Around 250 wrestlers are participating in the tournament from 19 nations.