Asian Games 2026: Sunil Kumar wins bronze as India’s wrestling campaign gets off the mark

What does it take to turn a bronze medal into a piece of history? For Sunil Kumar, it took just one more dominant bout.

The Indian wrestler opened India’s wrestling medal account at the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya on Wednesday, defeating the Philippines’ Callum Johnston Roberts 9-0 by technical superiority in the men’s Greco-Roman 87kg bronze-medal bout.

The victory was emphatic. Kumar controlled the contest from the start, built his lead through takedowns and ground attacks and never allowed Roberts to put a point on the board. According to PTI, the Indian finished the bout in the first period after taking a 4-0 lead and then extending it from the par terre position. But the scoreline tells only part of the story.

Sunil Kumar becomes the first Indian Greco-Roman wrestler with two Asian Games medals

Kumar’s bronze is not simply India’s first wrestling medal of the 2026 Games. It is his second consecutive Asian Games medal in Greco-Roman wrestling. The 27-year-old Haryana wrestler had won bronze in the same 87kg category at the Hangzhou Asian Games in 2023, ending a 13-year wait for India for a Greco-Roman medal at the Games. With Wednesday’s result, he became the first Indian Greco-Roman wrestler to win two Asian Games medals, PTI reported.

The road to this bronze was not completely smooth.

Kumar began his campaign with a technical-superiority win over Tajikistan’s Muhammad Sultonzoda before reaching the semifinals. There, he lost 11-0 to Japan’s Taizo Yoshida, sending him into the bronze-medal contest. That setback clearly did not define the day.

Neeru Dhanda and Kynan Chenai make shooting history with Asian Games gold

While Kumar was securing wrestling’s first medal, India’s shooting contingent was adding another historic chapter. Neeru Dhanda and Kynan Chenai won gold in the trap mixed team event, finishing with 34 points. Qatar took silver with 32, while China won bronze with 23. The bigger number, however, was 34.

The Indian pair surpassed the previous Asian Games record of 30, set by Qatar earlier this year, and produced India’s first-ever Asian Games gold in the trap mixed team event. For Dhanda, it was her third medal of these Games. She had already won silver in the women’s trap team event before becoming the first Indian woman to win an individual Asian Games gold in trap shooting.

India’s compound archery team retains gold and matches world record

The medals kept coming in archery. Jyothi Surekha Vennam, Chikitha Taniparthi and Prithika Pradeep defeated China 238-234 in the women’s compound team final to retain the Asian Games title.

The 238 was significant, too: India equalled the world and Asian record set by South Korea in 2014. The Indian Express reported that India had earlier edged South Korea 234-233 in the semifinal before producing another composed performance in the final.

For Vennam, the gold added another chapter to an extraordinary Asian Games record. She has been part of every Indian medal-winning women's compound team since the event made its Asian Games debut in 2014.

What does Sunil Kumar’s bronze mean for India’s Asian Games wrestling campaign?

It means India no longer has to wait for its wrestling campaign to get moving. Kumar has done more than put a medal on the board. His back-to-back Greco-Roman bronzes have placed him in a small piece of Indian wrestling history.

And with the wrestling competition still continuing in Aichi-Nagoya, the question now shifts from when India would win its first wrestling medal to what the rest of the Indian contingent can add to it.

For Sunil Kumar, the answer on Wednesday was clear: step back onto the mat, take control and make history again.

(With inputs from ANI)