Wrestling Federation picks squads for Sr Asian Championships; Beach Asian Games

New Delhi, March 17 (IANS) Woman grapplers Meenakshi Goyat, Hanshika, and Mansi Lather, along with male freestyle competitors Aman, Sandeep Singh Mann, Mukul Dahiya, and Greco-Roman Style contestants Sachin Sehrawat and Sunil Kumar, topped their respective weight categories in the selection trials for the 2026 Senior Asian Wrestling Championship.

The top continental event is scheduled to be held at Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan) from April 6 to 12, with the Indian wrestlers hoping to perform well in the competition.

Meenakshi Goyat, who has previously competed in 50kg several times and has recently settled in 53kg, shocked everyone by overcoming Antim Panghal, the two-time World Championship bronze medallist, in the final bout of the women's 53 kg trials.

It was a big performance by Meenakshi as she had lost to Antim a couple of times in the trials earlier, but came back strongly this time to beat the top contender in this weight category. It was a well-fought clash with both grapplers trying their best to overcome the other. Antim is a three-time medallist in the Asian Championship, while the 25-year-old Meenakshi is a two-time national champion and trains in Sonepat under former national coach Kuldeep Malik.

In another interesting competition in the 50kg, Neelam, who defeated Shivani in the previous round, outclassed Priyanshi in the final, winning by technical superiority.

The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) has also picked the squad to participate in the Beach Asian Games, which is scheduled to be held in China.

The list of wrestlers selected for the 2026 Senior Asian Wrestling Championship:

Free Style:

57 Kg. Ankush DEL

61 Kg. Aman RSPB

65 Kg. Sujeet HAR

70 Kg. Abhimanyou HAR

74 Kg. Jaideep HAR

79 Kg. Sandeep Singh Mann PB

86 Kg. Mukul Dahiya DEL

92 Kg. Punit Kumar HAR

97 Kg. Vicky HAR

125 Kg. Dinesh HAR

Greek-Roman Style

55 Kg. Lalit SSCB

60 Kg. Sahil HAR

63 Kg. Sunny HAR

67 Kg. Sachin Sehrawat SSCB

72 Kg. Anil HAR

77 Kg. Aman SSCB

82 Kg. Prince HAR

87 Kg. Sunil Kumar RSPB

97 Kg. Nitesh RSPB

130 Kg. Joginder Rathi HAR

Women Wrestling

50 Kg. Neelam UP

53 Kg. Meenakshi HAR

55 Kg. Hanshika HAR

57 Kg. Manisha HAR

59 Kg. Neha HAR

62 Kg. Mansi RSPB

65 Kg. Monika RAJ

68 Kg. Mansi Lather HAR

72 Kg. Harshita RSPB

76 Kg. Kajal HAR

The following wrestlers have also been selected for participation in the Beach Asian Games scheduled to be held in China:

Free Style

70 Kg. Siddharth HAR

80 Kg. Amit HAR

90 Kg. Aryan HAR

90+ Kg. Jaspooran Singh HAR

50 Kg. Priyanshi Prajapat MP

60 Kg. Pushpa Yadav UP

70 Kg. Jaspreet Kaur PB

70+ Kg. Priya Malik HAR

--IANS

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