During the fourth day of the Asian Wrestling Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan, Antim Panghal took second place, while Anshu Malik won bronze. The U-20 world junior champion Panghal controlled her side of the field, not giving up a single point to defeat Aktenge Keunimjaeva of Uzbekistan 8-1 in the semifinals.
Then in the final, the 2021 world champion Akari Fujinami of Japan took down Antim Panghal 10-0 via technical superiority. The 19-year-old Japanese wrestler has never settled for anything less than gold in international tournaments and has an unbeaten in 118 matches across domestic and international competitions coming into the final.
Nisha, who won bronze at the 2020 U23 World Championships, earned her first significant medal at the senior level on Tuesday as she took home silver in the 68kg competition. While, Anshu Malik, who won silver at the 2021 World Championships in the weight category, was defeated by Sae Nanjo of Japan 5-1 in the semifinal.
In the second session, Malik and Nanjo were tied at one apiece until the latter executed a single-leg takedown that caused Malik's left knee to twist awkwardly, causing her to writhe in agony. When the fight resumed after the injury break, Nanjo had secured the victory. Anshu had previously suffered a 10-0 defeat at the hands of Nanjo in the semifinals of the 2018 Junior World Championships.
The Mongolian Orkhon Purevdorj, the 2017 world champion, defeated Tokyo 2020 Olympian Sonam Malik in the quarterfinals by fall, however, Purevdorj advanced to the final, giving Sonam Malik a chance to win bronze via the repechage. Sonam Malik defeated China's Xiaojuan Luo, the 2019 Asian champion and No. 2 in the world, 5-1 to win the bronze medal match.
Indian women wrestlers ended the Asian Championships 2023 with seven medals, including two silver and five bronze, after winning five medals on the day.
