Bajrang Punia at the Asian Wrestling Championships (Image Credits -Twitter)

Wrestling Stats: Indians who won gold medals at the Asian Wrestling Championships

April 12, 2023April 12, 2023 Abhiruchi Rout

The Asian Wrestling Championships is one of the prestigious Wrestling tournaments which was inaugurated in 1979. The event is organized by the Asian Associated Wrestling Committee (AAWC) and is a continental meeting conducted in the Asian continent. The event features competitions in men’s freestyle, men’s Greco Roman, and women’s freestyle events. The first tournament was held in Jalandhar, India, in 1979. It has since then been conducted on an annual or biennial basis in different cities in Asia.

The overall medal standings is presently topped by Iran with a gigantic 222 gold, 89 silver, and 123 bronze medals, making it 434 medals in total. Japan (398) and South Korea (289) are currently placed second and third respectively in the team standings. At present, the tournament is organized every year and features many elite wrestlers from powerhouse countries like Iran, Japan, South Korea, Kazakhstan, China, and Uzbekistan.

India’s performance at the Asian Wrestling Championships

India has collected a whopping 221 medals at the Asian Wrestling Championships. This includes 24 gold, 75 silver, and 122 bronze medals. The country is currently placed 10th on the all-time medal table. India has managed to acquire 24 gold medals, out of its huge collection of 221. The first gold medal for India was won by Kartar Singh in the 1983 Asian Wrestling Championships that took place in Tehran, Iran. He accomplished this in the men’s Greco Roman 100 kg weight class.

It is interesting to note that Tokyo Olympics 2020 silver medalist Ravi Kumar Dahiya has claimed the most number of titles at the Asian Wrestling Championships. He accomplished gold medals in 2020, 2021, and 2022. However, with Ravi Kumar Dahiya being ruled out due to injury, the men’s 57kg freestyle event is ready to crown a new champion in the 2023 edition.

Pappu Yadav, Yogeshwar Dutt, Bajrang Punia, Sarita Mor, and Divya Kakran are among the wrestlers who have won the gold medal in the Asian Wrestling Championships twice. In fact, the Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist and multiple Worlds medalist Bajrang Punia has attained the maximum number of medals in the championships, with two gold, four silver, and two bronze medals. However, Bajrang is not taking part in the 2023 edition of the continental meeting.

Let’s take a look at the Indians who have won Gold medals at the Asian Wrestling Championships till date.

Edition	Athlete	Event	Weight Category
1983 Tehran	Kartar Singh	Men’s Greco Roman	100 kg
1987 Mumbai	Pappu Yadav	Men’s Greco Roman	48 kg
1993 Hiroshima	Pappu Yadav	Men’s Greco Roman	48 kg
2008 Jeju	Yogeshwar Dutt	Men’s Freestyle	60 kg
2010 New Delhi	Sushil Kumar	Men’s Freestyle	66 kg
2010 New Delhi	Narsingh Yadav	Men’s Freestyle	74 kg
2012 Gumi	Yogeshwar Dutt	Men’s Freestyle	60 kg
2013 New Delhi	Amit Kumar Dahiya	Men’s Freestyle	55 kg
2013 New Delhi	Amit Kumar Dhankar	Men’s Freestyle	66kg
2016 Bangkok	Sandeep Tomar	Men’s Freestyle	57 kg
2017 New Delhi	Bajrang Punia	Men’s Freestyle	65 kg
2018 Bishkek	Navjot Kaur	Women’s Freestyle	65 kg
2019 Xian	Bajrang Punia	Men’s Freestyle	65 kg
2020 New Delhi	Ravi Kumar Dahiya	Men’s Freestyle	57 kg
2020 New Delhi	Sunil Kumar	Men’s Greco Roman	87 kg
2020 New Delhi	Pinki	Women’s Freestyle	55 kg
2020 New Delhi	Sarita Mor	Women’s Freestyle	59 kg
2020 New Delhi	Divya Kakran	Women’s Freestyle	68 kg
2021 Almaty	Ravi Kumar Dahiya	Men’s Freestyle	57 kg
2021 Almaty	Vinesh Phogat	Women’s Freestyle	53 kg
2021 Almaty	Anshu Malik	Women’s Freestyle	57 kg
2021 Almaty	Sarita Mor	Women’s Freestyle	59 kg
2021 Almaty	Divya Kakran	Women’s Freestyle	72 kg
2022 Ulaanbaatar	Ravi Kumar Dahiya	Men’s Freestyle	57 kg