Defending champion Sarita Mor was not at her best but still managed to win a bronze medal while Sushma Shokeen also earned a podium finish at the Asian Wrestling Championship in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia on Thursday.
Competing in the five-wrestler 59kg category, Sarita, the 2021 World Championship bronze medalist, began with two defeats - against Mongolia's Shoovdor Baatarjav (1-2) and Japan's Sara Natami (VSU) - but made a comeback by winning her last two bouts.
She first beat Uzbekistan's Dilfuza Aimbetova by technical superiority and then followed that up with a 5-2 win over Diana Kayumova.
"It was just not my day. I could not perform the way I wanted to. Maybe because of weather. It is high-altitude city, I did not feel active on the mat. Plus, hardly there was any gap between my bouts," Sarita told PTI.
Also winning bronze was Sushma in the 55kg category, which also featured only five wrestlers.
She lost by technical superiority to Japan's Umi Imai but bounced back with a 5-0 win over Kazakhstan's Altyn Shagayeva in the next round. Then she enjoyed a stupendous bout against Uzbekistan's Sarbinaz Jienbaeva, winning by fall.
Sushma SHOKEEN 🇮🇳 secures the fall over Sarbinaz JIENBAEVA 🇺🇿 at 55kg to keep her medal hopes alive at #WrestleUlaanbaatar pic.twitter.com/dkyeuH9NPK
- United World Wrestling (@wrestling) April 21, 2022
However, she ended with a heavy defeat against local girl Otgonjargal Ganbaatar, to whom she lost by technical superiority. The two wins were enough for her to secure a bronze.
Manisha was also in reckoning for a bronze in the 50kg but lost the medal match by fall to Uzbekistan's Jasmina Immaeva.
Sonika Hooda (68kg) and Sudesh Kumari (76kg) could not reach the medal round.
India have so far won seven bronze medals at the championships. The Greco Roman wrestlers had won five bronze on the first two days of the continental championships.