Nagoya, October 1, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Nitesh Siwach scripted history at the Asian Games on Thursday by storming into the Greco-Roman 97kg final, ending a 64-year wait for India to have a finalist in the discipline at the continental showpiece.
Nitesh produced a dominant 9-0 technical superiority win over Mongolia’s Ganbaataryn Gankhuyag in the semifinal at the Nagoya City Inae Sports Center. He will face Japan’s Yuri Nakazato in the gold-medal bout later in the day.
The 2026 Asian Championships silver medallist had earlier defeated Turkmenistan’s Amanberdi Agamammedov 7-1 in the quarterfinals.
Nitesh is now the first Indian since the 1962 Asian Games to reach the Greco-Roman wrestling final. If he defeats Nakazato, he will become only the second Indian to win an Asian Games gold in the discipline after Ganpat Andalkar, who triumphed in the 87kg category at the 1962 Games in Jakarta.
Andalkar remains the only Indian to have won a Greco-Roman wrestling gold medal at the Asian Games.
Meanwhile, Mansi’s bid for gold ended with a 0-6 semifinal defeat to Japan’s Nonoka Ozaki. The Indian will now compete for bronze against Mongolia’s Altjin Togtokh later on Thursday.
Mansi had begun her campaign with a 6-1 win over Irina Kuznetsova in the pre-quarterfinals before defeating South Korea’s Jo Su-been 5-0 in the quarterfinals.
However, she faced a formidable opponent in Ozaki, the Paris Olympic bronze medallist and Hangzhou Asian Games champion.
India also had quarterfinal exits in the men’s Greco-Roman events. Sumit lost to Iran’s Sajjad Abbaspourragani after the bout ended 1-1, with the Iranian winning on VPO1.
In the 77kg category, Aman was beaten 0-9 by Qatar’s Shahin Badaghimofrad. Aman had earlier defeated Mongolia’s Borgil Tuvshinbaatar 8-6 in the pre-quarterfinals.
Neither Sumit nor Aman will get a repechage opportunity as the wrestlers who defeated them failed to reach their respective finals.
India have already secured a Greco-Roman wrestling medal at the Aichi-Nagoya Games, with Sunil Kumar winning bronze in the men’s 87kg category on Wednesday.
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