By becoming the first Indian woman wrestler to win a gold medal at the U-20 World Wrestling Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria, on Friday, young Antim Panghal made history.
In the 53kg division final, 18-year-old Haryana wrestler Antim defeated Kazakhstan’s Altyn Shagayeva 8-0. In the famous junior competition, Antim won her opening match against the German Amory Olivia Andrich on the basis of technical superiority. The young Indian then overcame Ayaka Kimura of Japan 4-0 in the quarterfinals before defeating Nataliia Klivchutska of Ukraine to advance to the championship match.
India’s Sonam Malik lost the silver medal match at 62 kg to Japan’s Nonoka Ozaki 0-6. In the 65kg division, Priyanka fell to Mahiro Yoshitake of Japan 0-8 to earn silver, and Priya Malik won silver in the women’s 76kg division despite losing to Ayano Moro of Japan 1-3 in the championship match.
India placed second overall in the women’s freestyle with one gold, three silver, and three bronze medals. Third in the team standings with a total of seven medals, including one silver and six bronze in freestyle, were the men’s wrestlers.
Antim gained notoriety after losing to eventual gold medalist Vinesh Phogat at the trials here in Lucknow, which cost her a spot on the Indian team for the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. In the decisive match, the score was tied at 3-3 when Vinesh managed to win due to his superior technical ability.
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