The Indian freestyle wrestling team concluded the 2025 Senior Asian Wrestling Championship held in Amman, Jordan, from 25 to 30 March 2025, with a tally of 10 Medals, including 1 Gold, 3 Silver, and 6 Bronze. This was the 21st edition of the championship, and the events were organized by Switzerland, based United World Wrestling (UWW).
- India’s Manisha Bhanwala in the Women’s Wrestling (WW) (62 Kilograms (Kg)) category clinched India’s first and only Gold Medal in the championship by defeating North Korea’s Ok J. Kim by 8-7 points.
This event marked the 1st time Amman hosted the championships, bringing together over 370 wrestlers from across Asia. Iran dominated the championships, with multiple wrestlers making it to the finals.
Points to Note:
i.UWW is the international governing body for the sport of amateur wrestling, both for Greco-Roman wrestling and freestyle wrestling.
ii.A total of 30 Indian wrestlers – 10 each for Women’s Wrestling (WW), men’s Freestyle (FS), and Greco-Roman (GR) competed at the continental championships, and each style has various weight categories (in Kg).
- In the 2024 Asian Championships held in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Indian wrestlers secured 9 medals – 4 silvers and 5 bronzes.
iii.The next event for the Indian wrestlers will be the 2025 World Championships scheduled in Zagreb, Croatia, from 13 to 21 September 2025.
Indian Medal Winners:
| Winners | Medal | Style | Weight Category (in Kilograms (kg)) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manisha Bhanwala | Gold | Women’s wrestling | 62 |
| Deepak Punia | Silver | Freestyle | 92 |
| Udit | Silver | Freestyle | 61 |
| Reetika Hooda | Silver | Women’s wrestling | 76 |
| Muskan | Bronze | Women’s wrestling | 59 |
| Mansi Lather | Bronze | Women’s wrestling | 68 |
| Nitesh | Bronze | Greco-Roman | 97 |
| Sunil Kumar | Bronze | Greco-Roman | 87 |
| Antim Panghal | Bronze | Women’s wrestling | 53 |
| Dinesh Kumar | Bronze | Freestyle | 125 |
India’s wrestling prospects:
i.Udit (FS, 61 kg) secured his 2nd consecutive silver medal at the championship. He won his 1st Silver in the 57 kg category in 2024.
- In the final, he lost to Japan’s Takara Suda by 6-4 points.
ii.Olympian Deepak Punia (FS, 92 kg) clinched a silver medal at the championship. He lost to Iran’s Amir Hossein Firouzpour (10-0) via technical superiority in the final.
- This was Deepak Punia’s 5th medal at the continental championships and his 3rd silver.
- The other 2 are bronze medals. All his previous medals had come in the 86 kg category.
iii.Under-23 (U23) world champion Reetika Hooda won a silver medal in the WW 76kg division.
iv.Dinesh Kumar (FS, 125 kg) won a bronze medal in a match against Turkmenistan’s Zyyamuhammet Saparov by 14-12 points.
v.Antim Panghal (WW, 53kg) won a bronze medal by losing to North Korea’s Meng Hsuan Hsieh by 10-0.
vi.Sunil Kumar (GR, 87kg) won a bronze medal in the championship.
- This achievement marks Sunil’s 5th senior medal and 3rd bronze at the Asian Wrestling Championships. He secured successive bronze medals in 2022 and 2023.
vii.Bronze medals were also earned by Muskan (WW, 59kg), Mansi Lather (WW, 68kg), and Nitesh (GR, 97kg)
