Asian Wrestling Championship 2023: Top 3 Indian wrestlers at the tournament
The Asian Wrestling Championship 2023 was held in Astana, Kazakhstan from 9 to 14 April. The event was initially set to take place in India but was transferred to Kazakhstan.
This news might have been heartbreaking for the Indian wrestlers as they would certainly have been looking forward to having the fan support at home. However, courtesy of the Fan Wall by Cadbury Dairy Milk, Indian fans were able to cheer for their favourite wrestlers in the stadium.
The fighters participated in 3 categories:
- Men’s Freestyle
- Men’s Greco-Roman
- Women’s Freestyle
The tournament was played in the following format for each day in every category:
- Qualifying Round
- Semi-Finals, Repechages
- Finals
Talking about India’s participation in the tournament, an experienced and skilful contingent was sent to compete in the Asian event. It was a fantastic competition overall for the Indian team of wrestlers as they successfully clinched a total of 14 medals for the country. The tally was three less than the previous edition but still, India continued to prove its worth on the International stage.
The summary of Indian performance at the mega event was that they were able to grab 99 points in Men’s Freestyle, 115 points in Men’s Greco-Roman and 143 points with a top 3 finish in Women’s Freestyle. The medal winners from the men’s squad were:
- Aman Sehrawat
- Deepak Mirka
- Anirudh Gulia
- Rupin Gahlawat
- Neeraj Chhikara
- Vikas Dalal
- Sunil Kumar
While the honorers from the women contingent included:
- Antim Panghal
- Anshu Malik
- Sonam Malik
- Manisha Bhanwala
- Nisha Dahiya
- Reetika Hooda
- Priya Malik
All of the performers were equally skilful and enigmatic, but if we were to choose the top three performers for India in this year’s event, which would be quite a difficult task, then these were the best of the lot.
Top 3 performers for India (All categories):
#1 Aman Sehrawat (Men’s freestyle 57kg - Gold)
Becoming an Asian Champion at 19 years old is not everyone’s cup of tea, but Aman thought otherwise, defeating Kyrgyzstan's Almaz Smanbekov 9-4 and clinching the Gold for India. Grabbing the lead after a passivity point and then going all offensive against his opponent.
Almaz dragged down Aman in a fine counter but the latter was again in a 3-2 lead and tried to capitalise on the armbar. He again faced a counter from Smanbekov. Aman was skilful enough to gain the lead in the next few seconds, winning the glittering Gold in the process.
This is how Sehrawat won his first mega-event medal at the senior circuit and made the country proud.
#2 Rupin Gahlawat (Men’s Greco-Roman 55kg - Silver)
Rupin was the one who gave India a great opening start to the tournament by winning his first international medal. On the first day of the Championship, he lost to Pouya Dadmarz, in the final of the championship. Hence, he had to settle for second place in his category.
He had qualified for the finals with impressive performances right from his very first match.
#3 Antim Panghal (Women’s freestyle 57kg - Silver)
Antim Panghal is one of the rising wrestlers in the country. Her skills and determination have caught the attention of fans and critics alike, and she has become one of the most exciting young boxers to watch in India.
The young prodigy won her silver medal in the Women's freestyle category and had to settle for the second position in the tournament after losing the final to Akari Fujinami, the 2021 Champion. She stunned everyone with her enigmatic moves and has been in the headlines ever since.
Cadbury Dairy Milk’s initiative to collaborate with various federations around the world to have Fan Walls at sporting events has certainly been one of the most innovative initiatives undertaken in recent times. This will not only be beneficial for the players as they receive home support but also for the fans, who can #CheerForAllSports! You can register for the initiative here.