Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan), Apr 9: Hansika Lamba and Neha won a bronze medal each in the women’s 55kg and 59kg class respectively while two-time national champion Meenakshi Goyat came back from the brink to beat South Korea’s Seoyoung Park and reach the final of the 53kg category at the Senior Asian Wrestling Championships here on Thursday.
In the women’s 55kg bronze medal bout, Hansika was cautious in the first round against Kyrgyzstan’s Aruuke Kadyrbek Kyzy.
The 19-year-old Indian then opened her account with a take down in the first minute of the second round with a leg attack. She then pressed for the advantage and won the bout 6-1.
Neha then added the seventh medal to India’s tally when she registered a dominating 10-4 win over Mongolia’s Bolortuya Khurelkhuu in the women’s 59kg bronze medal play-off.
The men’s Greco Roman wrestlers had bagged two silver and three bronze medals on the first three days of competition.
Meenakshi, who made it to the Indian team after beating world championships bronze medallist Antim Panghal, was trailing 0-2 till the last 30 seconds against the Korean on Thursday.
However, the 25-year-old surprised her opponent with a four-point throw and then defended her position to reach the final.
The former Asian U-23 champion will face China’s Jin Zhang, who defeated Japan’s Moe Kiyooka by fall, in the final.
Meanwhile, Harshita (72kg) and Monika (65kg) will aim for bronze medals on Friday.
Harshita went down 2-7 against 2024 Asian Championships gold medallist Mahiro Yoshitake of Japan in the women’s 72kg semifinal and will now face Sevinchoy Polvonova of Uzbekistan for the bronze medal.
In the women’s 65kg category, Monika lost to eventual finalist Nana Ikehata of Japan in the quarterfinals. She will now face losing semifinalist Hanbit Lee of South Korea in the bronze medal bout.
Minakshi (57kg) and Mansi (62kg) will also have a chance to win a medal after making it to the repechage round.
In the repechage round, Minakshi will face Kyrgyzstan’s Tancholpon Kybalbekova and Mansi will take on Mongolia’s Tserenchimed Sukhee on Friday. (PTI)
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