Indian Greco Roman wrestlers begin Asian Wrestling Championships campaign with 3 bronze medals 

Indian Greco Roman wrestlers claimed three bronze medals on the opening day of the Asian Wrestling Championships 2022 that got underway in the Mongolian city of Ulaanbaatar on Tuesday.

According to the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), Arjun Halakurki opened India's account by winning bronze in the men's 55kg play-off match. Neeraj won the second bronze in the 63kg category. Sunil Kumar later earned India’s third bronze in the men’s 87kg group.

Halakurki began the day on a promising note by scoring a 9-5 win but lost his second match 1-10 to top seed Amangali Bekbolatov of Kazakhstan. In the play-off match for the bronze medal, the Indian wrestler beat Davaabandi Munkh Erdene 10-7.

In the men’s 63kg bronze playoff, Neeraj gained the upper hand against Islomjon Bakhramov of Uzbekistan in the opening three minutes of the contest by racing to a 6-0 lead. Bakhramov came back into the match and narrowed down the lead to 4-7, but Neeraj continued his aggressive stance in the closing stages of the match to walk away with the bronze medal.

The day was quite challenging for Kumar in the men’s 87kg category. In his quarter-final match, Kumar came from behind to score a 5-3 win over Masato Sumi of Japan. However, Kumar lost his semi-final 0-8 to Jalgasbay Berdimuratov. In the playoff match, Kumar scored a 9-1 win over Batbayar Lutbayar of Mongolia.

“It was a tough competition but at the same time satisfying as I could win the bronze medal,” Kumar told Sportskeeda over the phone from Ulaanbaatar.

India’s Sajan Bhanwala wasn’t impressive in the 77kg playoff match for the bronze medal as he lost tamely to Japan’s Kodai Sakuraba 1-11.

The Greco Roman competition in the remaining five weight categories will be conducted on Wednesday. It will be followed by women’s and men’s freestyle competitions. The continental event concludes Sunday.

Read: Litmus test for Indian Greco Roman squad at the Asian Wrestling Championships