From delivering milk door-to-door with his father in Haryana to standing one win away from Asian Games gold, Nitesh Siwach has completed a remarkable comeback to wrestling.
The 23-year-old on Thursday entered the men’s Greco-Roman 97kg final at the 2026 Asian Games after a dominant 9-0 technical-superiority victory over Mongolia’s Ganbaataryn Gankhuyag. His run has ended a 64-year wait for India to have a Greco-Roman finalist at the Asian Games, with Nitesh now set to face Japan’s Yuri Nakazato in the gold-medal bout.
Nitesh’s journey to the Asian Games final was shaped by a major setback that once appeared to have brought his wrestling career to a halt. After beginning wrestling in 2012, he trained for about two years before a knee injury required surgery. He subsequently spent nearly two years away from the sport. During that period, he helped his father Anand Siwach, who worked as a milkman, with his daily delivery rounds. The wrestling mat was replaced by milk deliveries as Nitesh faced uncertainty over whether he would be able to return to competitive sport.
The decision to return eventually came from Nitesh himself. He approached his parents and asked them to give him six months to try wrestling again. His family agreed, and he used the opportunity to rebuild his career. Nitesh won a medal at the School Nationals during that comeback period, helping convince him that he could still pursue the sport. His progress continued over the following years, including a bronze medal at the 2025 Asian Championships and a silver at the 2026 edition before he earned his place in India’s Asian Games team.
At the Asian Games, Nitesh received a bye in the qualification round before beginning his 97kg campaign in the quarterfinals. He defeated Turkmenistan’s Amanberdi Agamammedov 7-1 to reach the last four. The semifinal proved even more emphatic, with Nitesh beating Gankhuyag 9-0 without conceding a point. Gankhuyag had won a bronze medal at the previous Asian Games in Hangzhou, making the performance another significant step in Nitesh’s campaign.
His place in the final also carries historical significance for Indian Greco-Roman wrestling. Ganpat Andalkar won the +97kg gold medal at the 1962 Asian Games in Jakarta, and India had not reached another Greco-Roman final at the continental Games since then. Nitesh’s achievement therefore guarantees India at least a silver medal in the 97kg category. A victory over Nakazato would make him only the second Indian to win an Asian Games Greco-Roman gold medal and the first since Andalkar’s triumph 64 years ago.
For Nitesh, the final represents the latest stage of a comeback that began after injury forced him away from the sport and took him onto his father’s milk-delivery route. His return was built around the six-month opportunity he sought from his family and has since developed into an international medal-winning career. Now, after two victories in Nagoya and a place in the final, he has the opportunity to complete that journey with a historic gold medal when he takes on Japan’s Nakazato.