Amman, Mar 28: Reetika Hooda, the reigning Under-23 world champion, bagged a silver medal in the women's freestyle 76kg division at the Asian Wrestling Championships 2025 in Amman, Jordan.

Reetika, who clinched the bronze medal at the 2023 edition of the Asian Championships, suffered heartbreak in the final after losing against Aiperi Medet Kyzy of Kyrgyzstan.

The final was defined by narrow margins, and Aiperi, with nerves of steel, secured a slender 7-6 victory to stand at the top of the podium. The U-23 world champion was cruising in the final with a 6-2 lead, but she slipped up in the final few seconds of the match.

Aiperi's victory in the final was her second against Reetika in a major tournament. The Indian grappler tasted defeat against Aiperi in the quarter-finals of the Paris 2024 Olympics on criteria after the scores were level 1-1.

En route to the final, Reetika ousted Japan's Nodoka Yamamoto by fall to confirm her second senior medal at the Asian Wrestling Championships.

In the quarter-finals, Reetika registered a 10-0 win through technical superiority over Seoyeon Jeong of the Republic of Korea.

Meanwhile, Muskan and Mansi Lather claimed bronze medals in the women's 59kg and 68kg, respectively. Muskan, a 17-year-old wrestler, lost against Japan's Sakura Onishi by a 12-2 scoreline in the quarter-finals. She went on to put up a spirited effort against Mongolia's Altjin Togtokh and secure a 4-0 win and clinch the bronze medal through repechage.

Mansi Lather, 18, who made her senior debut at the Asian Championships, defeated Irina Kazyulina of Kazakhstan in the bronze medal match with a 12-2 scoreline after losing to eventual champion Zelu Li of the People's Republic of China in the semi-finals.

With three medals, India's medal count at the Asian Wrestling Championships surged to five. Greco-Roman wrestlers Nitesh (97kg) and Sunil Kumar (87kg) claimed bronze on the first two days of the competition.

The remaining two Indian wrestlers, Ankush (50kg) and Nishu (55kg), returned empty-handed. In the qualifying round, Ankush lost to Japan's eventual gold medallist Remina Yoshimoto via technical superiority.

Nishu, meanwhile, went down by fall against Mongolia's Otgontuya Bayanmunkh in the bronze medal match after qualifying through repechage rounds. India's Paris 2024 Olympian Antim Panghal (women's 53kg) will take the mat on Friday.

(ANI)

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