Meenakshi Goyat secured a third silver medal for India in the women’s 53kg division at the Senior Asian Wrestling Championships held on Friday, while three male freestyle wrestlers progressed to the finals in their respective weight categories.

Monika (women’s 65kg) and Harshita (women’s 72kg) concluded their competitions with bronze medals, contributing to India’s overall medal count, which now stands at ten, comprising three silvers and seven bronzes.

On Friday, the hopes for India’s gold medal rested solely on Meenakshi, who had made a remarkable recovery in the semi-finals. However, the 25-year-old faced a challenging match and lost decisively 0-10 to Jin Zhang from China.

Despite the disappointment of Meenakshi’s defeat, Monika and Harshita rejuvenated the team’s morale with their impressive performances, both securing bronze medals. Monika triumphed over South Korea’s Hanbit Lee with a commanding 9-0 victory in the women’s 65kg category, while Harshita outperformed Sevinchoy Polvonova with a score of 5-0 in the women’s 72kg bronze medal match.

Earlier in the day, India’s male freestyle wrestlers showcased their rising prominence on the continental level. U-23 world champion Sujeet (65kg), along with Abhimanyou (70kg) and Sandeep Mann (79kg), all advanced to the finals of their weight classes.

In the semi-finals for the 65kg freestyle category, Sujeet achieved a 7-2 victory against Abdulmazhid Kudiev of Tajikistan. The 23-year-old, who previously won two Ranking Series this year, had earlier dominated Kyrgyzstan’s Rustamzhan Kakharov in the quarter-finals. He is set to face Umidjon Jalolov from Uzbekistan in a rematch from the U23 world championships final, which he won comfortably.

Abhimanyou caused an upset by defeating the defending champion Ernazar Akmataliev of Kyrgyzstan with a score of 6-3, securing a spot in the men’s 70kg freestyle final, where he will compete against Mongolia’s Tumur Ochir.

Sandeep Mann also secured his place in the final after a dominant performance, winning his semi-final match against Somonjon Ikromov of Tajikistan with a score of 10-0 in the 79kg freestyle category. He will now compete for gold against Japan’s Keyvan Gharehdaghi.

Among the other competitors, Vicky will aim for a bronze medal in the 97kg category after his narrow semi-final defeat to Amirali Azarpira of Iran, where he lost 0-2. In the men’s 57kg freestyle, Ankush will face Fuga Sasaki from Japan for the bronze medal after losing to Milad Validazeh, who advanced to the finals.