Astana: Aman Sehrawat clinched India’s first gold medal at the ongoing Asian Wrestling Championships after beating Kyrgyzstan’s Almaz Smanbekov in the 57kg category here Thursday. Aman Sehrawat, who continued to impress on the senior circuit, beat Smanbekov 9-4 in the summit bout on the penultimate day of the tournament.
Sehrawat, who trains at Delhi’s famed Chhatrasal Stadium, had earlier beaten Japan’s Rikuto Arai 7-1 in the quarterfinal before defeating China’s Wanhao Zou 7-4 in the semifinals.
It was the second podium finish of the 2023 season for Sehrawat, who had won a bronze at the Zagreb Open in February. He had won the U-23 World Championships last year.
Two other Indians also reached the bronze-medal round here Thursday. Deepak Kukna (79kg) and Deepak Nehra (97kg) will fight for bronze medals after losing their respective semifinals even as Anuj Kumar (65kg) and Mulayam Yadav (70kg) could not reach the medal round.
With Sehrawat’s gold, India have won 12 medals so far in the competition. The Greco-Roman wrestlers won four medals while the women grapplers grabbed seven.