Nishio, Oct 3 — India’s Antim Panghal settled for the silver medal in the women’s 53 kg wrestling event after losing 1-9 to Japan’s Moe Kiyooka in the gold-medal bout at the Asian Games 2026 here on Saturday.
Antim, who had won bronze in the same category at the Hangzhou Asian Games, began the final cautiously against the home favourite as Kiyooka took an early lead in front of a packed crowd at the Nagoya City Inae Sports Center.
The Japanese wrestler was awarded a point after Antim was unable to score during the passivity period, before extending her advantage to 2-0 by the end of the opening period.
Antim tried to find her way back into the contest and briefly appeared to have brought Kiyooka down on her leg to score a point. However, the Japanese wrestler quickly powered the Indian out of the mat. Antim challenged the decision, but her review was unsuccessful.
With time running out, Antim was forced to become more attacking in an attempt to close the gap. Kiyooka capitalised on the opening, attacking Antim’s leg and completing a takedown to extend her lead to 9-1 and seal the gold medal.
Despite the defeat, Antim’s silver marked another significant achievement in her Asian Games career. It is her second medal at the continental showpiece after the bronze she won at Hangzhou in 2022.
The 21-year-old had produced a dominant run to reach the final, opening her campaign with a 9-0 victory over Kazakhstan’s Shugyla Omirbek before defeating Uzbekistan’s Sakibjamal Esbosynova 8-0 in the quarterfinals.
She then overcame China’s Jin Zhang 6-1 in the semifinal. After conceding the opening point, Antim responded strongly by scoring six unanswered points to book her place in the title clash.
Her qualification for the final had already placed her in an elite group, making her the only third Indian woman wrestler after Geetika Jakhar and Vinesh Phogat to reach an Asian Games wrestling final.
Antim is also the first Indian woman wrestler to win a medal for the country at the ongoing Aichi-Nagoya Games.
Her silver is India’s sixth wrestling medal at the Games and adds to a productive day for the country’s wrestlers, with Aman Sehrawat winning gold in the men’s freestyle 57 kg category and Deepak Punia securing bronze in the men’s 97 kg event.