Hansika, Sarika settle for silver at U-23 World Wrestling Championships

India will have to wait for its first gold medal as Hansika Lamba and Sarika Malik signed off with silver at the U-23 World Wrestling Championships in Serbia's Novi Sad on Saturday. Hansika lost the 53kg title clash 0-4 to Japan's Haruna Morikawa. She hardly made a move in the first period, losing the first points on Morikawa's take down and was then put on clock for passivity.
In the 55kg category, Sarika Malik, last year’s Asian U20 silver medallist, faced Ruka Natami, the 2024 U-23 World silver medallist. Sarika scored the first point on Natami’s passivity, but after a slow and actionless first period, the match took a turn. Sarika tried to use her strength for a push-out but was caught by the Japanese wrestler, who executed a two-pointer on the edge of the circle to take a 2-1 lead, which she maintained to claim the gold.
Despite the silver medal finishes, India had an impressive overall showing at the U-23 World Wrestling Championships. The country concluded the women’s competition with seven medals. Along with Hansika and Sarika, Nishu (55kg), Neha Sharma (57kg), Pulkit (65kg), Srishti (68kg), and Priya Malik (76kg) all earned bronze medals earlier in the tournament.
In the men’s freestyle event, Parvinder (74kg) lost his bronze play-off 2-8 to Japan’s Yoshinosuke Aoyagi. Other Indian wrestlers in the men’s competition, including Sumit Malik (57kg), Naveen Kumar (70kg), Chander Mohan (79kg), and Sachin (92kg), were eliminated earlier.