Asian Games 2026: Pinki Balhara loses semifinal, wins bronze for India in kurash
Pinki Balhara lost her -78kg kurash semifinal to South Korea's Mo Sumin but secured bronze for India at the Nagoya Asian Games.
The Asian Games 2026 are underway in Japan, where Indian athletes are putting up a strong show. In the women's -78kg kurash category at the Games in Nagoya, India's star kurash player Pinki Balhara won a bronze medal for India.
In a tough semifinal contest, Pinki Balhara lost 0-5 to South Korea's Mo Sumin. The bout was to stay in contention for the gold medal, but with this defeat her chance of winning gold ended.
In the semifinal, Pinki got no opportunity to settle against Mo Sumin's aggressive moves. Sumin built a 5-0 lead with strong tactics and took full control of the contest. With this, Sumin advanced in the race for gold, while Pinki Balhara's campaign in the women's -78kg kurash event at the Nagoya Asian Games 2026 ended with a bronze medal.
This is Pinki Balhara's second Asian Games medal. She had earlier won a silver medal in the 52kg category at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta. She has now achieved this success again by showing her strength at this edition of the Asian Games.
Although Pinki Balhara lost in the semifinal, reaching that stage earned her the bronze medal in the event. For Pinki, who won silver at the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games, this is her second consecutive Asian Games medal, considered a major achievement for India in a sport like kurash.
