Nitesh Siwach eyes historic gold: Indian wrestler reaches Greco-Roman final in Nagoya
Nagoya: Nitesh Siwach stormed into the men's Greco-Roman 97kg final with a dominant 9-0 victory over Mongolia's Gankhuyag Ganbaatar, while Mansi Ahlawat's gold medal hopes were dashed following a 0-6 semi-final defeat to Japan's two-time world champion Nonoka Ozaki at the Asian Games on Thursday.
Nitesh, who won silver at the Asian Championships earlier this year, delivered another commanding performance against the Hangzhou Asian Games bronze medallist to assure India of its second wrestling medal at the Aichi-Nagoya Games, according to ESPN.
The Indian had earlier defeated Turkmenistan's Amanberdi Agamammedov 7-1 in the quarter-finals, racing to a 7-0 lead in the opening period before wrapping up the victory.
Nitesh will now compete for gold against the winner of the second semi-final between Iran's Mehdi Balihamzehdeh and Japan's Yuri Nakazato.
Mansi, meanwhile, was unable to overcome the challenge posed by Ozaki in the women's 62kg semi-final.
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The Japanese wrestler took an early 2-0 lead with a takedown and executed the move again to extend her advantage to 4-0. Mansi defended resolutely thereafter but struggled to breach Ozaki's defence.
Ozaki added two further points with another takedown in the second period before holding firm to complete a 6-0 win.
Mansi, a former World Championships bronze medallist in the 59kg category, will now move into the repechage with an opportunity to wrestle for the bronze medal.
India also experienced mixed fortunes in judo on Thursday. Yamini Mourya lost her women's 57kg quarter-final to Mongolia's Ariunzaya Terbish by yuko and will now meet Japan's Mio Shirakane in the repechage for a spot in the bronze medal bout.
In the women's 70kg category, Inunganbi Takhellambam advanced to the quarter-finals after defeating Nepal's Punam Shrestha by ippon. She will take on North Korea's Mun Song Hui in the last eight.
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India also claimed a bronze medal in women's team squash after suffering a 1-2 defeat to Hong Kong in the semi-final.
Earlier in the day, India guaranteed a medal in men's sepaktakraw after beating Vietnam 2-0 in their quadrant Group A match to secure a semi-final place.
India's men's volleyball campaign, however, ended in disappointment with a 0-3 loss to Pakistan in the quarter-finals.
India entered Day 12 with 60 medals, 10 gold, 21 silver, and 29 bronze, and continued to build on its tally across wrestling, squash, sepaktakraw, and other events.
PTI