Antim Panghal wins bronze medal at World Wrestling Championships, secures Paris Olympic quota

This is maiden senior medal in the competition.

Young Indian wrestler Antim Panghal closed off a superb campaign at the World Wrestling Championships 2023 with a bronze medal that also secured a Paris Olympic quota for India in the 53kg category. This is the country's first quota in wrestling heading to Paris 2024. The two-time U-20 world champion beat Sweden’s Emma Malmgren 16-6 by technical superiority (TSU) in the bronze medal bout to clinch her first senior World Wrestling Championships medal.

The medal win also makes Panghal only the eighth Indian woman and 23rd overall to bag a medal at the World Championships. Her bronze is also India's first medal in the ongoing edition of the World Wrestling Championships. Alka Tomar (2006), Babita Phogat (2012), Geeta Phogat (2012), Pooja Dhanda (2018), Vinesh Phogat (2019 & 2021), Sarita Mor (2021) and Anshu Malik (2021) are the other Indian grapplers to medal at the Worlds.

Defeating a two-time European champion took a lot of guts and determination from the Indian wrestler who had also won the silver at the 2023 Asian Wrestling Championships earlier this year.

Antim Panghal shot into a 5-0 lead at the start but saw Malmgren comeback to end the first round tied at 6-6. However, the Indian wrestler came out flying in the second round and took home the bronze medal in style. Her achievement gave Indian fans back home some reason to rejoice after a woeful overall performance by the Indian wrestlers at the 2023 World Wrestling Championships in Belgrade, Serbia.

Rising from the ashes

Antim Panghal’s bronze medal-winning performance is praiseworthy after her morale-sapping defeat in the semi-final to Vanesa Kaladzinskaya of Belarus. The 19-year-old Indian wrestler had defeated reigning world champion Dominique Olivia Parrish of the USA on her road to the semis which made her a huge favourite for the gold.

Panghal’s preparations for the 2023 World Wrestling Championships were far from ideal. Despite multiple issues regarding selection trials for the Asian and World Championships looming large, her unwavering focus made it possible to shine on the world stage.