In Amman, Jordan, Nitesh secured a bronze medal victory in the Greco-Roman 97kg weight class, adding a second medal to India’s collection at the current Asian Wrestling Championships 2025.

In his first fight, the 22-year-old grappler defeated Ilyas Guchigov of Kazakhstan 9-0 with technical superiority (VSU). With a positive attitude, he advanced to the semi-finals but lost to the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Mohammad Hadi Saravi, the current Olympic champion, by the same score.

After the loss, winning the bronze medal match was Nitesh’s sole chance to get on the podium. He raised the stakes and won India’s second gold in the current tournament by defeating Amanberdi Agamammedov of Turkmenistan 9-0 (VSU). Sunil Kumar previously won bronze in Tuesday’s Greco-Roman 87kg weight class.

With an impressive performance, India’s Sunil Kumar (87 kg) defeated China’s Jiaxin Huang 3-1 to win the bronze medal for the nation. Sunil’s path to the podium included a spectacular 10-1 win against Tajikistani grappler Sukhrob AbdulKhaev, but a loss to Iran’s Yasin Ali Yazdi in the semi-finals.

Mohammad Hadi Saravi won the gold medal in the top-podium match by defeating Yuri Nakazato of Japan in the 97kg final.

Sumit (60 kg), Neeraj (67 kg), Kuldeep Malak (72 kg), and Rahul (82 kg), the other four Indian Greco-Roman wrestlers, came away empty-handed.

Neeraj advanced to the bronze medal match by repechage out of the four, having lost to Kyrgyzstan’s Razzak Beishekeev due to technical advantage in the quarterfinals.

But he fell 5-0 against Katsuaki Endo, the Asian Games champion from Japan, and missed out on a medal. Neeraj has defeated Ali Abbas Mukasr Albidhan of Iraq 3-1 to start his campaign.

On Thursday and Friday, respectively, Indian Olympians Reetika Hooda (women’s 76 kg) and Antim Panghal (women’s 53 kg) will create an impression on the mat.