CHENNAI: Had there not been withdrawals of two participants due to doping suspension, as many as four Indian wrestlers would have been in action on the opening day of the wrestling competition of the 2026 Asian Games at Nagoya City Inae Sports Center, Nagoya on Wednesday. Deepak (67kg Greco-Roman) and Deepanshu (130kg Greco-Roman) tested positive for banned substances ahead of the Games leading to their withdrawal from the national squad thus reducing India's participation by half on Day 1.
Nevertheless, Veteran Sunil Kumar, who won a bronze medal at the previous edition in 2023 in Hangzhou, China, and Paris Olympian Nisha Dahiya took the mat to kickstart the country's wrestling campaign with the former making it two in a row by finishing third in the 87kg weight category.
Given a bye in the qualification round of the 87kg weight category, the 27-year-old wrestler from Haryana won by technical superiority (9-0) against Muhammad Sultonzoda of Tajikistan. Sultonzoda was put on a 'par terre' position for being defensive and the Indian wrestler grabbed the advantageous ground position with both hands to employ consecutive gut wrench moves.
In Greco-Roman wrestling, a passivity violation earns the active wrestler a reward wherein he can choose to continue wrestling in standing or par terre position. In a par terre position, the passive wrestler lies down at the centre of the ring on his stomach with his arms and feet outstretched while touching the mat. The active wrestler then takes a position on any side of the opponent and grips him to execute scoring moves. Besides, the gut wrench in Greco-Roman is the move where a wrestler locks his arms around his opponent's midsection and rolls him over to score points.
After winning his first bout with ease, Sunil squared off against reigning U20 World Championships gold medallist Taizo Yoshida. The Indian conceded six points in the first period and went on to give away five more points in the next period to lose the semifinal 0-11 by technical superiority. With Yoshida, who also won a bronze medal in the 2025 Senior World Championships, entering the summit clash, Sunil got another shot on the bronze medal and he defeated Roberts Callum Johnston of Philippines 9-0 by technical superiority to make it count and open India's account. He won the medal bout in less than two minutes of the first period.
Nisha, meanwhile, in a rematch of the Paris Olympics quarterfinal lost to Pak Sol Gum of North Korea 4-4 in the qualification round of the 68kg weight category. A couple of years ago in Paris, Nisha was leading 8-2 when she suffered an elbow injury. Pak took the advantage of the situation and won the bout 10-8 to end Nisha's campaign in the Games. Nisha once again took an early 2-0 lead in the first period but the North Korean wrestler executed a four-pointer to go into the break leading 4-2. Nisha got a two-pointer to make it 4-4. Both wrestlers attempted to earn points thereon but couldn't succeed. The deadlock meant Pak was announced winner on criteria (scoring bigger move).
With Pak reaching the final, Nisha made it to the repechage round but could not make the full use of the opportunity as South Korea's Park Hyeonyeong pinned her to win by fall. The loss drew curtains on Nisha's campaign at the Games.
