Sandhya Vishnoi and Akshara secured silver medals for India at the U17 World Wrestling Championships on Friday, while Avanshika and Taniya added bronze medals to extend India’s strong run in the women’s events.
Sandhya finished runner-up in the 46kg category after falling to Japan’s Kokona Makino in the title bout by technical superiority. India then picked up a second silver in the 53kg division through Akshara, who also lost by technical superiority in the final to USA’s Marlee J Solomon.
The day’s results underlined India’s depth across multiple weight categories, with two more podium finishes coming through composed bronze-medal performances from Avanshika and Taniya.
How the medals were decided on Friday
In the 46kg final, Sandhya came up against Japan’s Kokona Makino in the gold-medal match. The bout ended with Sandhya settling for silver after Makino won by technical superiority, denying India the top step of the podium in that category.
Akshara’s silver followed in the 53kg weight division. She reached the title clash but was beaten by USA’s Marlee J Solomon, again by technical superiority, as India collected its second silver medal of the day.
India’s bronze medals came in the 61kg and 69kg categories, where both wrestlers produced clear scorelines in their medal bouts.
In the 61kg bronze-medal play-off, Avanshika faced Kazakhstan’s Aruzhan Bakytnur and delivered what was described as a disciplined performance. Maintaining tactical control through the contest, Avanshika earned a 5-1 victory to claim bronze.
Taniya then added another bronze for India in the 69kg category. In a hard-fought medal match, she showed strong attacking intent and outclassed Poland’s Maja Wejchan 12-2 to seal a commanding win and take home the bronze.
With two silvers and two bronzes on Friday alone, India’s women wrestlers continued to stack up podium finishes at the U17 World Wrestling Championships across a range of weight classes.
What’s next at the U17 World Wrestling Championships
The focus now shifts to the men’s freestyle competition, which is set to begin on Saturday. The men’s freestyle event will be held across the 48kg, 55kg, 65kg, 80kg, and 110kg weight categories.
After a productive day for the women’s contingent, India will look to carry that momentum into the upcoming freestyle bouts as the championships continue.
