Asian Wrestling Championship: Sakshi Malik to face Olympic gold medallist Risako Kawai in final

New Delhi: Rio Olympic Games bronze medallist Sakshi Malik assured herself of a silver medal in the ongoing Asian Wrestling Championship after the grappler entered the finals of the 60 kg weight category here on Friday.

Returning to the mat after almost a year since the bronze-medal feat at the Rio Olympics in August 2016, Sakshi outclassed Ayaulym Kassymova of Kazakhstan 15-3 to enter the finals.

She had advanced to the semi-final after beating Uzbek grappler Nabira Esenbaeva 6-2 in the quarter-final bout.

Malik will face Olympic gold medallist Japan`s Risako Kawai in the finals.

Last week, Malik had outclassed national champion Manju Kumari 10-0 during the selection trials for the Asian Championships.

Malik was immediately drafted into the squad and was expected to fight in the 58kg category. But on the eve of the tournament, it turned out that she was overweight for the 58 kg.