Asian Games 2026: Aman, Sujeet Lead India’s Best Wrestling Campaign Since 1962

Aman Sehrawat had watched a 6–1 lead turn into a 7–6 deficit. Across the mat stood reigning world champion Han Chong Song. With the Asian Games gold slipping away, the Indian wrestler produced the decisive response: a four-point move that swung the final back in his favour.

Aman won the men’s freestyle 57kg title 11–7, helping India finish its Aichi-Nagoya 2026 wrestling campaign with two gold, two silver and two bronze medals.

Sujeet Kalkal claimed the other gold in men’s freestyle 65kg. Antim Panghal and Nitesh Siwach won silver, while Deepak Punia and Sunil Kumar added bronze, taking India onto the podium in both freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling.

According to Olympics.com, the overall performance was India’s best at the Asian Games since Jakarta 1962, when its wrestlers collected 12 medals, including three gold.

AMAN’S GOLDEN COMEBACK

Aman’s victory carried additional weight given his opponent’s credentials. North Korea’s Han had won both the world and Asian championship titles in the 57kg category in 2025.

The Paris 2024 bronze medallist initially looked in control of the final before Han overturned his five-point advantage. Aman’s four-point move restored the lead at 10–7, and an unsuccessful challenge from Han’s corner gave the Indian another point.

It was his second comeback in successive bouts.

In the semi-final, Aman trailed Tajikistan’s Aiaal Belolyubskii 6–2 after the opening period before recovering to win 14–8. Earlier, he had beaten Japan’s Yamato Ogawa 20–9 and Kazakhstan’s Nurdanat Aitanov 12–1, both by technical superiority.

His title followed Sujeet’s gold in the 65kg category on Friday, giving India two men’s freestyle champions at the Games.

ANTIM ADDS SILVER TO HANGZHOU BRONZE

Antim Panghal reached the women’s 53kg final with three convincing victories but fell short against Japan’s Moe Kiyooka.

Kiyooka, the 2024 world champion at 55kg, led 2–0 after the opening period and went on to win 9–1.

Antim had opened with a 9–0 victory over Kazakhstan’s Shugyla Omirbek, then defeated Uzbekistan’s Sakibjamal Esbosynova by fall in the quarter-finals. In the semi-final, she recovered from an early deficit to beat China’s reigning Asian champion Zhang Jin 6–1.

The silver gave Antim a second consecutive Asian Games medal, following her bronze in Hangzhou.

DEEPAK RETURNS TO THE PODIUM

Deepak Punia also secured a second successive Asian Games medal, winning bronze in men’s freestyle 97kg after taking silver at Hangzhou 2023.

He edged Mongolia’s Gankhuyag Ganbaatar 2–1 in the bronze-medal bout. His route to the final had been blocked by Uzbekistan’s Sherzod Poyonov, who beat him 9–8 in the semi-final.

Deepak began with a 12–2 technical superiority victory over China’s Junpeng Zhou before receiving a quarter-final walkover against Hong Kong China’s Wui Fung Vincent Li.

In Greco-Roman wrestling, Nitesh Siwach took silver at 97kg, while Sunil Kumar won bronze at 87kg.

TWO GOLDS GIVE SIX-MEDAL HAUL ITS EDGE

There were disappointments alongside the podium finishes. Sagar Jaglan lost his men’s freestyle 74kg bronze-medal bout by fall to Kazakhstan’s Nurkozha Kaipanov, the 2024 world champion.

Manisha Bhanwala exited the women’s 57kg competition after a 3–0 quarter-final defeat to Japan’s Olympic champion Akari Fujinami. When Fujinami failed to reach the final, Manisha’s repechage hopes ended.

India had also won two wrestling golds at Bangkok 1978 and Jakarta 2018, but finished with three medals at each edition. Aichi-Nagoya combined those two titles with four further podium finishes.

Jakarta 1962 remains the benchmark: three gold, six silver and three bronze. More than six decades later, Aman and Sujeet led a campaign that gave India both champions and a broader spread of medals.

With inputs from ANI