With the top podium finish, Antim Panghal, a 17-year-old wrestler, became the first Indian woman...
Digital Desk: Reigning junior Asian champion Antim Panghal won the gold medal in the women's 53kg division on Friday at the World U20 Wrestling Championships 2022 in Sofia, Bulgaria.
With the top podium finish, Antim Panghal, a 17-year-old wrestler, became the first Indian woman to win a gold medal in the U20 world wrestling championships.
Prior to Antim, six wrestlers from India competed in the junior world meet finals, but none of them managed to win a gold medal.
In the women's 53kg final, Antim Panghal defeated Kazakhstan's Altyn Shagayeva, who had won bronze at the U20 Asian Championships, with a nearly flawless performance.
After leading 6-0 at the break, Antim Panghal, who won gold at the senior Zouhaier Sghaier Ranking Series in Tunisia last month, was in complete control and saw out the remaining minutes to win the match 8-0.
The United World Wrestling (UWW) website quoted Antim as saying, "I really love counters, but here she (Altyn Shagayeva) was not attacking much, so I had to start a few attacks."
Antim Panghal defeated Germany's junior European champion Amory Olivia Andrich (11-0) in the opening round before pinning Ayaka Kimura of Japan in the quarter-finals. "Everyone always said that Japan is the best. All I wanted was to defeat Japan," she said.
In the semi-finals, Antim Panghal defeated Ukraine's U20 European Championships bronze medalist Nataliia Klivchutska to ensure India's medal.
Apart from Antim, Tokyo Olympian and two-time cadet world champion Sonam Malik (women's 62kg) and another reigning junior Asian champion, Priyanka (women's 65kg), earned silver medals on Friday.
Sonam Malik was defeated by a fall in the final by senior world bronze medalist Nonoka Ozaki of Japan, after defeating U23 Asian championships silver medalist Bermet Nuridin Kyzy of Kazakhstan in a similar way in the semi-finals.
In the 65 kg final, Priyanka fell to Mahiro Yoshitake of Japan, 8-0. Dilnaz Sazanova of Kyrgyzstan, who won the silver medal at the U23 Asian Championships, was pinned by Priyanka in the semifinals.
With one gold and two silver medals on Friday, India now has a total of 12 medals at the Sofia meet.
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