Anshu Malik fails to overpower Japan’s Tsugumi Sakurai, settles for silver at Asian Wrestling Championships
The gold medal eluded the Indian team as Anshu Malik failed to defend her women’s 57 kg freestyle title at the Asian Wrestling Championships in Ulaanbaatar on Friday. As the women’s freestyle contest came to a close, India won two silvers and one bronze to add to the three bronzes they won on Thursday.
In a highly-anticipated 57 kg gold medal match, the Indian athlete simply lost the plot and didn’t pose any challenge to her Japanese rival Tsugumi Sakurai.
Tsugumi, who had switched to 55 kg from 57 kg, surprised the defending champion. She took less than a minute to pin Anshu down and assert supremacy in the continental championships.
Anshu dominated her preliminary round matches, indicating that she was enjoying a good run of form. However, in the gold medal contest against the Japanese, instead of posing a strong challenge, the 20-year-old was clueless as her rival overpowered her within 60 seconds to emerge victorious.
Friday’s silver was Anshu's third medal at the continental level. She won bronze in the 2020 edition at home and gold in 2021.
The round-robin league matches in the women’s 65 kg gave India's Radhika ample opportunity to exploit the situation. In her last match of the day, which turned out to be a contest for silver, Radhika grabbed the chance to beat Kazakhstan’s Dariga Aben to pocket silver.
In the 62 kg playoff match, Manisha powered her way to winning a bronze medal. The Indian came from behind to overpower Korea’s Hanbit Lee to win bronze.
In the 53 kg bout, India’s Swati Shinde wasn’t able to enter the medal round. She lost her first match to Akari Fujinami of Japan 10-0 and went on to lose to Mongolia’s Khulan Batkhuyag by fall.
The men’s freestyle competition will commence on Saturday. India’s Tokyo Olympic Games silver medalist Ravi Dahiya and star freestyle wrestler Bajrang Punia are amongst the 10-member strong Indian team.