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Thirty Indian wrestlers are set to represent the nation at the 2025 Asian Wrestling Championships, which begins today (March 25). The competition will take place in Amman, Jordan and will feature the top wrestlers from across the continent.
Paris Olympic medalist Aman Sehrawat, who won gold in the 2023 edition of the tournament, will not be taking part as he is said to be recovering from an injury.
The event will feature matches across three disciplines — Greco-Roman Wrestling, Men's Freestyle Wrestling and Women's Freestyle Wrestling. Each discipline will have ten weight categories. India will be represented by one wrestler in each of thirty weight categories.
Who are the players to watch out for?
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Leading India's charge in the women's freestyle will be 20 year old Antim Panghal, who won a silver medal in the 53kg category in 2023. Panghal had skipped the 2024 tournament to focus on her preparations for the Paris Olympics. Albeit, things didn't quite go according to plan for her at the quadrennial games. This will be her first international outing since the heartbeak in Paris.
The current U-23 champion and a silver medalist from the 2023 edition Reetika Hooda will be another one to keep an eye on. Meanwhile, U-17 champion Mansi Lather will be making her senior debut in Amman.
In the men's freestyle, there will be expectations aplenty from Deepak Punia, a World Championship silver medalist. Udit, who won the Asian Championship silver in the 57kg category last year and will be competing in the 61kg category this time.
U-23 champion Chirag and U-20 medalist Suraj Kalkal are other promising prospects.
Realistically, none of the Indian wrestlers go in as favourites in Greco-Roman. But then, surprises are like second nature to sport. Umesh, who will compete in 63kg category, will be playing his second successive Asian Championship.
Which teams will pose the biggest challenge for Indian wrestlers?
Iran is considered the powerhouse of Asian wrestling and will be expected to dominate Greco-Roman and men's freestyle. While not the favourites to start, Japanese wrestlers could give them a run for their money. Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan are without some of their top players but can still be seen as the dark horses.
It is hard to look past Japan in women's freestyle. Seven of their ten participants are world champions in their respective weight categories. China and DPR Korea (North Korea) are other strong teams to watch out for.
India's wrestling contingent for the Asian Championship 2025
Here is India's complete squad along with weight catgories in which each wrestler will be competing:-
Women's Freestyle: Ankush (50kg), Antim Panghal (53kg), Nishu (55kg), Neha Sharma (57kg), Muskan (59kg), Manisha (62kg), Monika (65kg), Mansi Lather (68kg), Jyoti Berwal (72kg), Reetika Hooda (76kg)
Men’s Freestyle: Chirag (57kg), Udit (61kg), Sujeet (65kg), Vishal Kaliramana (70kg), Jaideep (74kg), Chandermohan (79kg), Mukul Dahiya (86kg), Deepak Punia (92kg), Jointy Kumar (97kg), Dinesh (125kg)
Greco-Roman: Nitin (55kg), Sumit (60kg), Umesh (63kg), Neeraj (67kg), Kuldeep Malak (72kg), Sagar Thakran (77kg), Rahul (82kg), Sunil Kumar (87kg), Nitesh (97kg), Prem (130kg)
Asian Wrestling Championship 2025: Schedule and live streaming details
The Asian Wrestling Championship 2025 will be streamed live on the official website of United World Wrestling (uww.org). The action will begin each day at 2:00 PM IST.
All matches — including qualification, semifinal, repechage and finals — for a particular weight category will be done on the same day.
Schedule:-
Day 1 - Tuesday, March 25: Greco-Roman 55kg, 63kg, 77kg, 87kg, 130kg
Day 2 - Wednesday, March 26: Greco-Roman 60kg, 67kg, 72kg, 82kg, 97kg
Day 3 - Thursday, March 27: Women’s freestyle 50kg, 55kg, 59kg, 68kg, 76kg
Day 4 - Friday, March 28: Women’s freestyle 53kg, 57kg, 62kg, 65kg, 72kg
Day 5 - Saturday, March 29: Men’s freestyle 57kg, 65kg, 70kg, 79kg, 97kg
Day 6 - Sunday March 30: Men’s freestyle 61kg, 74kg, 86kg, 92kg, 125kg
