It was a day of no returns as both Akash Dahiya and Anirudh Kumar lost their respective bronze-medal bouts in the 2024 Asian Wrestling Championships in Bishkek on Friday.
Akash, who was competing in the non-Olympic 61kg category, began his competition with a 10-8 victory over Uzbekistan’s Sardor Ruzimov and then followed it up with a 7-3 win over South Korea’s Sanghyeon Son in the quarter-final.
However, Akash then lost the next two consecutive bouts by technical superiority – the semi-final against Kazakhstan's Assyl Aitakyn and the bronze-medal playoff match against Mongolia's Enkhbold Enkhbat.
In the 125kg category, Anirudh began with a clean 3-0 win over Zaman Anwar of Pakistan, but ended up losing by technical superiority to Iran’s Amir Hossein Abbas Zare. When the Iranian reached the final, Anirudh had the chance to turn things around in the bronze-medal match but ended up getting pinned down by Bahrain's Shamil Magomed A Sharipov.
Yash Tushir (74kg) along with Sandeep Singh Maan (86kg) and Vinay (92kg) all exited the tournament before the medal rounds in their respective categories.
As of now, India have won three medals at the Championships – Udit with a silver in 57kg, Abhimanyou (70kg) and Vicky (97kg) both winning bronze – all won on Thursday.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!