Nagoya, Oct 1:

Indian wrestler Sunil Kumar won his second consecutive Asian Games bronze medal after defeating the Philippines’ Roberts Callum Johnston by technical superiority in the men’s Greco-Roman 87kg category on Wednesday.

Sunil, who had won bronze at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games, dominated the bout from the start. He quickly established a 4-0 lead after executing two takedowns and then continued to find scoring opportunities after forcing Johnston into the par terre position.

The Indian finished the contest in the opening period itself, securing the bronze with a commanding performance.

The 27-year-old Haryana wrestler had entered the bronze-medal contest after losing his semifinal to Japan’s Taizo Yoshida by technical superiority. Earlier, he had begun his campaign with a technical-superiority victory over Tajikistan’s Muhammad Sultonzoda.

With his second successive Asian Games medal, Sunil became the first Indian Greco-Roman wrestler to win two Asian Games medals. His bronze in Hangzhou had ended India’s 13-year wait for a medal in the Greco-Roman discipline. Before that, India’s previous Greco-Roman Asian Games bronze medals had come through Ravinder Singh and Sunil Kumar Rana at the 2010 Guangzhou Games.