(source : ANI) ( Photo Credit : ani)
India’s Antim Panghal made history at the World Wrestling Championships in Zagreb, Croatia, grabbing the country’s first medal of the event—a shining bronze in the women’s 53kg freestyle category. The young Olympian dominated Sweden’s two-time European champion Jonna Malmgren with a convincing 9-1 win on Thursday, etching her name alongside Vinesh Phogat as the only Indian wrestlers with multiple medals from these championships.
This isn’t Antim’s first rodeo against Malmgren. Back in 2023 at the Belgrade edition, she crushed the same opponent 16-6 by technical superiority to claim her debut bronze. Women’s wrestlers have kept India’s medal streak alive, securing at least one podium finish in each of the last three World Wrestling Championships.
Antim’s path to bronze kicked off strong with a 10-0 technical superiority thrashing of Spain’s Carla Jaume Soler in the pre-quarterfinals. She then edged out China’s Zhang Jin 9-8 in a nail-biting quarterfinal. But in the semifinals, she bowed out to Paris 2024 silver medalist Lucia Yepez of Ecuador, paving the way for her bronze medal bout.
Over in the women’s 62kg freestyle, Asian champion Manisha Bhanwala came close but couldn’t seal a medal qualification. She fell 9-0 to Bulgaria’s Bilyana Dudova in the repechage round, ending her campaign early.
Things didn’t go as smoothly for India’s Greco-Roman wrestlers, though. None of the four managed a win. In the 55kg class, Anil Mor lost 8-0 to Azerbaijan’s four-time world champion and world No. 1 Eldaniz Azizli in the pre-quarters. Aman, representing India in the men’s 77kg, dropped an 8-0 technical superiority decision to Japan’s Olympic gold medalist Nao Kusaka in the round of 32.
Rahul fought hard in the men’s 82kg but went down 7-1 to Kazakhstan’s Almir Tolebayev in qualification. And in the heavyweight 130kg, Sonu exited early, losing to Croatia’s Olympian Marko Koscevic in the qualifiers.
With 30 gold medals on the line across men’s freestyle, women’s freestyle, and Greco-Roman categories, India will be hoping for more breakthroughs as the championships continue in Zagreb.
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