Disappointment arose for India after a positive start. After Vinesh Phogat’s quarterfinal exit, Anshu, Sonam and Sakshi also lose their respective bouts.
After securing a win in quarterfinals, Sonam could not manage to go past her Japanese opponent in the semi-finals. 2019 Asian silver medallist, Yukako KAWAI defeated the Indian hope by a scoreline of 5-2. Kawai will look to better her performance from last year and change the colour of medal from silver to gold.
The wrestling queen of India Vinesh Phogat has once again failed to solve the puzzle called Mayu Mukaida of Japan. The Mukaida jinx continues for Vinesh as she lost out in the opening round of the Asian Wrestling Championships to the Japanese.
Anshu lost the semi-finals of 62kg category against Japanese Risako KAWAI by 10-0.
In the other match, India’s female star Sakshi Malik lost her second-round bout against Naomi RUIKE 1-2 in a closely fought contest.
India starts positively on day 4 of Asian Championships after an impressive performance by women wrestlers on day 3 where they won 3 Golds and 1 Silver. There are another 5 medals up for grabs.
First up on day 4, it is the 57kg category in which Anshu battled against Nuraida Anarkulova of Kyrgyzstan.
She beat Nuraida by 11-1 and has reached the semi-finals of Asian Championships 2020. In the semis, she is likely to face the 2016 Olympic champion Risako KAWAI.
Anshu has recently won a silver medal in the Rome Ranking Series 2020 and is the 2019 Junior Asian Champion.
On the other hand, Nuraida is a 2018 Junior World Silver Medallist.
In the second match of the day, Sonam crushed the Korean Hanbit Lee convincingly by 11-0.
While Sonam is a two-time cadet world champion, Hanbit Lee is the 2018 Asian Championships bronze medallist. In the semis, she will be up against last year’s silver medallist Yukako KAWAI from Japan.
Indians in action on DAY 4 of the Asian Wrestling Championships 2020
57kg – Quarterfinal – Nuraida ANARKULOVA (KGZ) lost to Anshu (IND) 1-11
62kg – Quarterfinal – Hanbit LEE (KOR) lost to Sonam (IND) 0-11
53kg – Quarterfinal – Mayu MUKAIDA (JPN) def. Vinesh (IND) 6-2
72kg – Round 2 – Preet Kaur GURSHARAN (IND) def. Svetlana OKNAZAROVA (UZB) 10-0
57kg – Semifinals – Anshu (IND) lost to Risako KAWAI (JPN) 0-10
65kg – Round 2 – Sakshi MALIK (IND) lost to Naomi RUIKE (JPN) 1-2
62kg – Semifinals – Sonam (IND) lost to Yukako KAWAI (JPN) 2-5
