Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan): Railways wrestler Anju, who had outclassed Vinesh Phogat in the recent selection trials, and Harshita put up a dominant show to reach the gold medal bouts in their respective categories at the Asian Championships, but Sarita Mor was eliminated after a shock defeat in her opening round here Sunday.
Competing in a highly competitive 53kg weight class category, Anju logged back-to-back wins by technical superiority against Philippines' Aliah Rose Gavalez and Sri Lanka's Nethmi Ahinsa Fernando. She faced some resistance from China's Chun Lei before prevailing 9-6 in the semifinal.
In the final, Anju will face Korea's Ji Hyang Kim. Harshita conceded just three points en route the final, outclassing Uzbekistan's Ozoda Zaripboeva by technical superiority (13-3) and beating Kazakhstan's Anastassiya Panassovich 5-0. She will fight it out with China's Qian Jiang in the final.
However, a big shock was in store for the Indian squad as 2021 World Championship medallist Sarita lost her quarterfinal bout 4-8 to Mongolia's Gantuya Enkhbat. The 28-year-old was a firm medal favourite in this category. Later Enkhbat lost her semifinal, closing the repechage route for the Indian. Manisha Bhanwala (62kg) and Antim Kundu (65kg) will contest for bronze medals.
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