Indian wrestler Sunil Kumar secured a bronze medal in the 87kg Greco-Roman category at the Asian Championship on Tuesday.

In the bronze medal bout, Sunil defeated China’s Jiaxin Huang after falling short in the semifinals of the continental tournament.

A silver medallist in 2019, Sunil is striving to rediscover his past form. He began his campaign with a dominant 10-1 victory over Tajikistan’s Sukhrob Abdulkhaev in the quarterfinals, scoring all his points in the second period. However, he was denied a place in the final by Iran’s Yasin Yazdi, who edged him out 3-1 in the semifinal.

Meanwhile, Sagar Thakran won his 77kg qualification bout but suffered a 10-0 defeat in the quarterfinal against Jordan’s Amro Sadeh. Sadeh secured a semifinal spot with a four-point throw from par terre (ground) position. Following his loss, Sagar’s hopes of progressing depended on his opponent’s semifinal result.

Elsewhere, Umesh (63kg) lost in the qualification round, while Nitin (55kg) and Prem (130kg) were also eliminated in the early stages.