Aichi-Nagoya: India's Nitesh Siwach won the silver medal in the men's 97kg Greco-Roman wrestling event at the Asian Games 2026 after losing to Japan's Yuri Nakazato in the gold medal bout on Thursday.
Nitesh went down 0-2 in the opening round of the gold medal bout, with Nakazato taking the lead after the Indian was penalised for passivity.
Nitesh defended well when Nakazato got the opportunity to add to his score, keeping the deficit to just two points. However, the Indian was unable to find an advantage in the final 30 seconds of the opening round.
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Nakazato then extended his lead to 4-0 with two minutes remaining on the clock after brilliantly bundling Nitesh over and taking two more points.
The Japanese wrestler continued to dictate the tempo and put Nitesh under pressure. Nakazato also looked to finish the bout with a pin, but Nitesh held his ground.
Nakazato maintained control until the end and secured the gold medal, while Nitesh had to settle for silver.
Nitesh's silver medal means India will have to wait longer for a Greco-Roman wrestling gold medal at the Asian Games. Notably, Nitesh became only the second Indian Greco-Roman wrestler in history to reach an Asian Games final, 64 years after Maruti Mane, who won the Silver Medal in the Men's Greco-Roman 97kg category at the 1962 Asian Games.
Nitesh Siwach's silver medal in the men's 97kg Greco-Roman wrestling event took India's medal tally to four on Day 12 of the Asian Games 2026 on Thursday. India also secured a silver in sailing through Manu Francis and Prince Noble in the men's skiff event, while the women's squash team won a bronze medal after losing their semifinal bout. Indian archer Ganesh MRatnam Thirumuru also won a bronze in the men's compound individual event after defeating Vietnam's Cong Duc Dang earlier in the day.
