India's Deepak Punia clinched the bronze medal in the men's freestyle 97kg wrestling event at the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya.
Punia defeated Mongolia's Ganbaatar Gankhuyag in the bronze-medal bout to secure a place on the podium for India.
The Indian wrestler had missed out on a place in the final after suffering a narrow 8-9 defeat to Uzbekistan's Sherzod Poyonov in the semifinals.
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Punia had fought until the final seconds of the bout but could not secure a place in the gold-medal contest.
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Earlier in the competition, Punia advanced to the semifinals after defeating China's Zhou Junpeng 12-2 in the round of 16. He then progressed through the quarterfinal stage after Hong Kong's Li Wui Fung Vincent forfeited his bout.
Punia's bronze adds another wrestling medal to India's campaign at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.
This is his second medal from the Asian Games; in 2023, at the Hangzhou Asian Games, he took home the silver in the men's 86 kg freestyle.
In the Tricky, low-scoring match, the 27-year-old won two early points to win the bronze medal.
Following the gold medals won by Sujeet Kalkal and Aman, this is India's third freestyle wrestling medal and its fifth overall.
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