Bajrang’s comeback the highlight as India eye rich medal haul at Asian Wrestling Championship

For once, Bajrang Punia will be up against himself.
For the first time since winning the bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics, Bajrang will compete in an international tournament this week at the Asian Championships, which begin in Ulaanbaatar on Tuesday. However, he won’t be facing many of his old rivals in the 65kg weight class.
There’ll be no Takuto Otoguro, the Olympic champion from Japan who has been a constant thorn in Bajrang’s side, this week; or even Daulet Niyazbekov, whom the Indian beat to win the bronze in Tokyo. In their absence, Bajrang’s path to the continental title, which he has won twice, is expected to be fairly smooth.
The biggest challenge, though, will come from within. This was evident during the selection trials for the Asian Championships last month. In the final against Rohit, Bajrang was far from convincing as he came back from 0-2 down to win 4-2. It might have passed off as rustiness, owing to lack of competition, but Bajrang has been struggling with a knee injury which forced him to miss the ranking series events in Rome and anbul this year.
He pointed fingers at the lack of a proper support system, claiming that he had to undergo the rehab process himself without the help of a professional physiotherap, which delayed his return. Bajrang later played down the comments but when he competes on Saturday, his fitness – as much as form – will come under scrutiny.
Before that, however, there’ll be a lot happening from an Indian point of view given that this is the first major championship since the Olympics and a precursor to the Asian Games later this year.
The competition begins with Greco-Roman, a style that’s largely been Greek to Indian wrestlers. On Tuesday, number 2 seed in the 87kg category, Sunil Kumar will be in action. For him to match or better his previous best performance – silver in the 2019 edition – will be a mammoth task given that the weight class is brimming with top-quality wrestlers.
Former Asian champion and top seed Nursultan Tursynov of Kazakhstan will headline this category, which also includes Iran’s Naser Alizadeh, the gold medall from the last edition, and Uzbekan’s Jalgasbay Berdimuratov. South Korea’s Jin-hyeok Kim, a former Asian bronze medall, will only add to the intrigue and further complicate Sunil’s path to the podium.
High-flying Anshu
While Bajrang will largely be up against himself, the fast-emerging star in women’s wrestling, defending champion in the 57kg category, Anshu Malik, will be keen to prove she can repeat the performance in a stronger field.
One of the biggest attractions of the Asian Championships this week will be the return of the Japanese and Chinese women after six months. The wrestlers from these two powerhouses took part in the World Championships last year, and skipped the last edition of the continental tournament because of pandemic-related travel problems.
In their absence, Anshu emerged as the best in her class at the Asian Championships and won a silver at the Worlds last year. In Mongolia, the top seed will look to assert her dominance in a tricky, seven-wrestler field.
The main challenge for Anshu could come from Japan’s Tsugumi Sakurai. A world champion in the 55kg category – a non-Olympic class – Sakurai moved up a couple of kilos to the 57kg to lay down a marker for the Paris Games, where she’ll try to overcome two-time Olympic champion Risako Kawai to get into the Japanese team.
As the first step in that direction, Sakurai will look to win her maiden continental title in 57kg, with Anshu being her biggest rival. The Indian wrestler, meanwhile, will also have to deal with the challenges posed junior world champion Nilufar Raimova of Kazakhstan, in what appears to be a three-way contest in this weight class.
With veteran wrestler Vinesh Phogat yet to return to competition after the Tokyo Olympics, Anshu will be one of India’s biggest hopes this week along with Sarita Mor – another defending champion – in the 59kg category.
India vs Iran in freestyle
While Japan will be the biggest test for the women wrestlers, India’s duels against Iranian grapplers will decide who gets the upper hand in the men’s categories.
India have finished second only to Iran in the last three editions of the Asian Championship but with the West Asian country sending a squad with some relatively fresh faces, India, who have fielded a strong side, will fancy their chances to finish on top.
Iran are without some of their biggest names, including world champion Hassan Yazdani in the 86kg, making the task that much easier for the Indians. Bajrang, for instance, will be up against last year’s junior world champion in the 61kg class, Rahman Amouzadkhalili, in his pursuit of a medal while in the 86kg category, Deepak Punia will consider his chances of a maiden Asian title boosted in the absence of Yazdani.
But unlike Bajrang, who is a favourite in his weight category, Deepak and Ravi Dahiya, the other medal hopefuls, will have to navigate past difficult opponents.
Deepak, for instance, might have to get the better of Azamat Dauletbekov of Kazakhstan, who has a winning record against the Indian, to win his first Asian gold medal. And Tokyo Games silver medall Dahiya, looking to complete a hat-trick of Asian titles in the 57kg category, will renew his rivalry with Uzbekan’s Gulomjon Abdullaev, against whom he has a mixed record, and could also be up against Kyrgyzstan’s Almaz Smanbekov, who won the Yasar Dogu championship earlier this year.