Olympian Antim Panghal won India’s first medal at the World Wrestling Championships 2025 in Zagreb, Croatia, after bagging bronze in the 53kg women’s freestyle on Thursday.
She beat two-time European champion Jonna Malmgren of Sweden 9-1 in the bronze medal match to become just the second Indian woman after Vinesh Phogat to win multiple medals at the World Wrestling Championships.
Antim also won bronze in the 2023 edition of the World Championships at Belgrade and had beaten the very same opponent 16-6 via technical superiority to land on the podium two years back.
Women’s wrestlers from India have now won at least one medal at the last three editions of the World Wrestling Championships.
Antim Panghal began her campaign with a dominant 10-0 victory by technical superiority against Spain’s Carla Jaume Soler in the pre-quarterfinals.
The Indian wrestler then edged past the People’s Republic of China’s Zhang Jin 9-8 in a tense quarter-final before falling 5-3 to Paris 2024 silver medallist Lucía Yépez of Ecuador in the semis.
Meanwhile, Asian champion Manisha Bhanwala missed out on a chance to qualify for the bronze medal match in the 62kg women’s freestyle after losing 9-0 to Bulgaria’s Bilyana Dudova in her repechage round.
Elsewhere, India’s Greco-Roman wrestlers continued to struggle, with none of the four grapplers winning their respective bouts on Thursday.
Competing in the pre-quarterfinals, Anil Mor, who was a part of the 55kg weight class, lost 8-0 to four-time world champion and current world No. 1 Eldaniz Azizli of Azerbaijan.
The 77kg category saw India’s Aman lose 8-0 via technical superiority to Olympic champion Nao Kusaka of Japan in the round of 32.
In the 82kg, Rahul managed to earn a point unlike his compatriots but couldn’t prevent defeat as he succumbed to a 7-1 loss against Almir Tolebayev of Kazakhstan in qualification.
Sonu also lost in the 130kg after going down 8-0 in qualification against Olympian Marko Koščević of Croatia.
A total of 30 gold medals are on the line across men’s freestyle, women’s freestyle and Greco-Roman events.
India had fielded a full-strength squad with one entry in each weight category. None of the men’s freestyle wrestlers managed to return with a medal.