Antim Panghal to replace injured Vinesh Phogat in Asian Games

Published at :August 15, 2023 at 6:43 PM

Modified at :January 13, 2024 at 5:49 PM

(Courtesy : Twitter)

The U-20 World Champion was a standby for Vinesh by virtue of winning the selection trials.

Antim Panghal, who is a U-20 world champion, will replace the injured Vinesh Phogat in wrestling women’s 53kg category in the Indian squad for the upcoming 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou.

Phogat, who was given direct entry to the Asian Games along with Bajrang Punia (65kg), has announced that she won’t be able to compete in the Asian Games because of a knee injury that will require a surgery.

“I wanted to share an extremely sad piece of news. A couple of days ago on 13th August, I injured my left knee in training. After doing the scans and examinations, the doctor has said that unfortunately, surgery is the only option for me to recover,” Vinesh Phogat, reigning Asian Games champion in her category, wrote on social media.

Reigning champion Vinesh Phogat has pulled out from the Asian Games due to a knee injury that will require surgery!!Antim Panghal will now replace her in the Wrestling squad.#AsianGames2023 #wrestling #AsianGames pic.twitter.com/frJPqowPSr
— Khel Now (@KhelNow) August 15, 2023

She further added “I will be undergoing surgery on 17th August in Mumbai. It was my dream to retain my Asian Games gold medal for India which I won in 2018 in Jakarta. But unfortunately, this injury has ruled out my participation now.”

Vinesh Phogat is ruled out of Asian Games!! 💔🇮🇳The reigning Asian Games champion in the 53kg category has confirmed that she will undergo surgery for a knee injury. 🙏#Wrestling #AsianGames pic.twitter.com/YqTbjwRPdG
— Khel Now (@KhelNow) August 15, 2023

Phogat’s injury also rules her out from Wrestling World championships, which is scheduled to commence from September 16. The Worlds will also serve as the first qualifying event for the Paris Olympics 2024. Selection trials for the Wrestling World Championships is set to take place in Patiala on August 25-26.

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Antim Panghal to replace Vinesh Phogat

Panghal, 19, will replace Vinesh Phogat in the Asian Games squad by virtue of winning the 53kg category in the selection trials. Vinesh did not compete in the trials as she and Bajrang Punia were given exemption. In the trials, Panghal, who hails from Hisar, Haryana, started with a 7-2 win against Tamanna and then beat Neha (12-2) via technical superiority.

In the final match, she did even better as she pinned her opponent Manju in less than two minutes to emerge victorious. By winning the trials, she was an automatic choice in 53kg category should Vinesh be injured or unable to participate in the Asian Games.

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