Antim Panghal bounces back to win Wrestling Worlds bronze medal, secures Olympic quota for India

Antim Panghal ended her Wrestling World Championships campaign with a bronze medal which also earned India a 53kg quota for the Paris Olympics. The 19-year-old athlete defeated Sweden’s Emma Jonna Denise Malmgren to become only the sixth Indian woman wrestler to win a bronze medal at the Wrestling Worlds.

Antim won the high-scoring bout on technical superiority as she became the first Indian wrestler to book a 2024 Paris Olympics quota.

The Hisar-born wrestler showed tremendous resilience to bounce back from her semi-final defeat which had left her heartbroken. The two-time world U20 champion had lost to world No. 23 Vanesa Kaladzinskaya on technical points 5-4 in the semi-finals.

Antim Panghal was weeping yesterday after losing her semifinal bout in the last second. Today she beat 2x European champion Jonna Malmgren 16-6 to win