Wrestling Trials: Antim Panghal, Reetika qualify for Asian Championships

Antim Panghal, the World Championships medallist, has confirmed her spot in the Indian team for the upcoming Asian Wrestling Championships, winning the 53 kg women's freestyle trials at the Indira Gandhi Stadium in New Delhi on Saturday.

Many top Indian wrestlers were competing at the event, which was a selection trial for the first major competition of the year.

The Asian Wrestling Championships is set to take place in Amman, Jordan, later this month.

Antim to return for Asian C'ships

Antim, playing in her first competition of the year, had a slightly easier path for the Asian meet as there were only three wrestlers in her category.

Hence, she just had a single round robin contest, where she won both the matches easily.

She will be returning for the Asian championships after skipping the last edition due to injury. She will be aiming to better her medal color in Amman, as she had a silver medal from her previous Asian meet.

Since then, she has also tasted a lot of success on the circuit, from winning a world championship medal in the same year to representing India at the Paris Olympics in 2024.

Deepak Punia shifts weight class

The world medalist, Deepak Punia, has returned to the wrestling mat after a long break. But he came up with a surprise, shifting to the non-olympic weight class of 92 kg.

He started the competition with a dominating victory and then registered a technical superiority win against Aryan in the second round. He continued the momentum to get past (8-2) Sachin in the final.

Elsewhere, India's wrestling medallist at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Aman Sehrawat, withdrew from the event because of an injury.

But some of the top wrestlers, like Sujeet Kalkal (65 Kg FS), Jaideep (74 Kg FS), Udit (61 Kg FS), and Reetika (76 WW), won the title in their respective categories to book their berth for the Asian Championships.

List of Winners

Women's Wrestling: Ankush (50 Kg), Antim Panghal (53 Kg), Nishu (55 Kg), Neha Sharma (57 Kg), Muskan (59 Kg), Manisha Bhanwala (62 kg), Monika (65 Kg), Mansi Lather (68 Kg), Jyoti berwal (72 Kg), Reetika Hooda (76 Kg)

Men's Freestyle: Chirag (57 Kg), Udit (61 kg), Sujeet Kalkal (65 kg), Vishal Kaliraman (70 Kg), Jaideep (74 Kg), Chander Mohan (79 Kg), Mukul Dahiya (86 Kg), Deepak Punia (92 Kg), Jointy (97 Kg), Dinesh (125 Kg)