New Delhi: Rio Olympics bronze medal winner Sakshi Malik on Friday won the silver medal in the women’s 65 kg category at the Asian Wrestling Championships being played at KD Jadhav Hall at Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium. At the same time, Vinesh Phogat, who emerged as a gold contender, had to satisfy the women with the bronze medal in the 53 kg category. Anshu (57 kg weight) and Gursharan Preet Kaur (72 kg weight category) were also successful in their names. In the final, Sakshi was defeated by Naomi Ruike of Japan 2–0 in a tough match to win the gold medal. After winning the medal, Sakshi said, “Like I played in the group round, I played better against them in the final, I tried a lot but could not win.”
Vinesh Phogat lost in the quarter-finals. He had to beat Japan’s Mayu Mukaida. This is the third time in a row Vinesh has lost against Mueda. Vinesh was denied the silver medal in the World Championship too. Vinesh, however, managed to win the medal by defeating Lee Kien of Vietnam 10–0 in the bronze medal race. Vinesh said, “I keep working hard to improve myself because there is no end to mend myself. I feel that I am getting better. I lost to them twice. But today I Played well. “
At the same time, Anshu was defeated by Risako Kawai of Japan in the semi-finals. Because of this, he had to fight against Uzbekistan’s Sevara Ishamuratova for the bronze medal and the Indian player won his first Asian Championship medal by defeating the Uzbek player 4-1. At the same time, Sonam was defeated by Aisulu Tayanyevkova of Kyrgyzstan 11-0 in the Bronze Medal of 62 kg category. In the Bronze medal, Gursharan defeated Mongolia’s Sevgamed Inkhbayar 5-2 to win the medal.
