India’s Hansika Lamba wins silver at Budapest Ranking Series 2026 wrestling

India’s Hansika Lamba secured the silver medal in the women’s 55kg event at the Polyak Imre, Varga Janos & Kozma Istvan Memorial 2026 wrestling tournament, also known as the Budapest Ranking Series, held in Hungary on Thursday. The 19-year-old lost 5-0 to Ukraine’s Nataliia Klivchutska, a former junior European champion, in the final to finish second in the women’s freestyle category, as reported by Olympics.com. Hansika began her campaign with an 8-4 victory over Turkiye’s Tuba Demir in the quarter-finals before staging a comeback against Germany’s Anastasia Blayvas, winning 10-7 in the semi-finals. She has had a notable season, having previously earned bronze medals at the Asian Championships and the Ulaanbaatar Open in her last two international events. In the women’s 50kg category, India’s Priyanshi Prajapat narrowly missed a bronze medal, losing 4-2 to Ecuador’s Jacqueline Mollocana, a former Pan-American champion, in the medal bout after progressing through the repechage, according to Olympics.com. Priyanshi had started by pinning Pan-American champion Katie Gomez before losing in the quarter-finals to Paris 2024 Olympic bronze medallist Feng Ziqi of China. She returned to medal contention through repechage by defeating Canada’s Katie Dutchak but fell short in the bronze-medal match. This was Priyanshi’s second Ranking Series medal opportunity of the year, having won silver at the Muhamet Malo tournament in February. Another Indian wrestler, Dipanshi, also competing in the women’s 50kg category, was eliminated in the pre-quarterfinals. In the men’s 125kg category, Asian Games-bound Rajat Ruhal earned a bronze medal after his opponent, Mason Parris of the USA, withdrew due to injury, giving Rajat a walkover. Rajat had previously been defeated by Poland’s Kamil Kosciolek in the quarter-finals but secured a place in the bronze-medal bout by defeating South Korea’s Gwanuk Kim 8-4 in the repechage round. Another Indian wrestler in the men’s 125kg division, Dinesh Dhankhar, was eliminated in the quarter-finals. Punit Kumar (92kg) and Olympian Deepak Punia (97kg) were both ousted after losing their opening bouts in their respective categories. India’s medal count at the Budapest Ranking Series now totals five. Earlier, Olympic medallist Aman Sehrawat won gold in the men’s 57kg category, while Deepak (61kg) and Vishal Kaliramana (65kg) earned bronze medals. World Championships bronze medallist Antim Panghal is set to compete in the women’s 53kg category on Saturday. The Polyak Imre, Varga Janos & Kozma Istvan Memorial 2026 is the fourth and final United World Wrestling Ranking Series event of the season.