Wrestlers Anshu, Radhika claim silver at Asian meet

NEW DELHI: Anshu Malik cruised through her bouts until she faltered at the final hurdle against Japanese Tsugumi Sakurai to finish with a silver in the 57kg category at the Asian Wrestling Championships in Ulaanbaatar on Friday. The Indian was the defending champion, but Sakurai—the world champion in 55kg who moved up in weight category—brought a swift end to her challenge by pinning her down.

India claimed another silver as Radhika, the U-23 Worlds bronze medallist, underlined her growing stature. She battled through some tough bouts, overturning big leads to claim her first medal of the Asian Championships. Manisha (62kg) clinched bronze as the women’s team finished with five medals.

Anshu dominated her opponents in the round-robin format where seven wrestlers were in fray. She has stepped up well ever since returning from the Tokyo Olympics empty-handed. She became the first Indian woman wrestler to win silver at the Worlds in Oslo last year.

On Friday, in her first bout against Uzbekistan’s Shokhida Akhmedova, Anshu was relentless with her attacks and opened with a four-pointer. She brought her down again and scored six more with gut wrenches to finish it with just over a minute on the clock. Singaporean Danielle Sue Ching Lim’s challenge also did not last long as Anshu quickly collected 10 points. In the semi-final against Bolortuya Khurelkhuu of Mongolia, Anshu won well inside the first period. But Japan’s Sakurai did not give Anshu much of a chance in the final, winning with a pin under a minute.

Radhika, on the other hand, was in deep trouble in the earlier rounds. After losing to Miwa Morikawa of Japan 0-10, Radhika came back to beat Ariukhan Jumabaeva of Uzbekistan by fall. Jumabaeva had scored two points before the Indian’s counter-attack caught her unawares. Against Mongolian Purevsuren Ulziisaikhan, however, Radhika was trailing 1-6. But she defended well and countered her opponent’s attack to score a takedown and get six points at a go, taking a lead of 7-6 and eventually winning on points (8-6).

IOA writes to CGF

NEW DELHI: Indian Olympic Association described the exclusion of shooting, wrestling and archery from the initial programme of 2026 Commonwealth Games as “shocking” and asked Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) for a discussion at its General Assembly.