Asian Games 2023: Deepak Punia Bags Silver In Men’s 86kg Freestyle Wrestling

India’s Deepak Punia recently endured a loss against Iran’s the Rio 2016 Olympic champion and Tokyo 2020 silver medallist Hassan Yazdanicharati via technical superiority 10-0 in the men’s 86kg freestyle final at the ongoing Asian Games in Hangzhou on Saturday. Deepak’s silver takes India’s tally to 105 medals in total and will continue to remain at the fourth spot in the overall medal standings.

Notably, with this silver medal win, India ended their campaign in wrestling at the Asian Games 2023 with six medals. All five other medals won by the Indian wrestlers in Hangzhou were bronze.

Hassan Yazdani was eight points up in the first round including two takedowns. Deepak Punia put up a fight early in the second round but the Iranian wrestler proved too strong and defended his Asian Games title.

Deepak Punia began his campaign in the round of 16 with a convincing win over Randa Riandesta of Indonesia via technical superiority. He defeated Japan’s Shota Shirai 7-3 in the quarterfinal and edged past Bahrain’s Magomed Sharipov 4-3 for a spot in the final.

Last year, Deepak Punia won the gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in the 86kg bracket. He is also the 2019 world championships silver medallist in the same category.

The other three Indian wrestlers competing on the day are Yash (74kg), Vicky (97kg) and Sumit (125kg) – failed to win medals and did not progress to the repechage rounds.