Antim Panghal advances to the gold medal round; Anshu Malik and three other competitors will compete for bronze

Young Indian wrestler Antim Panghal dominated her opponents to easily advance to the 53kg title match by using a brilliant counterattacking strategy.

Young Indian wrestler Antim Panghal easily advanced to the 53kg title match by defeating her opponents, while Anshu Malik will compete for bronze after failing to get past Sae Nanjo of Japan’s defence in Astana on Wednesday. Panghal, 18, who last year became the first Indian woman wrestler to win the U20 world championship, dominated the 53kg field without giving her opponents a single point for their moves.

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She defeated Aktenge Keunimjaeva of Uzbekistan 8-1 in her semifinal match, and the only point she dropped was a caution.

With a takedown manoeuvre that she started with a left-leg attack, Antim Panghal joined in. A couple of times, the Uzbeki had the Indian in a head lock position, but on both occasions, Panghal not only managed to escape with consummate ease, but she also used counterattacks at a breakneck pace to keep growing her lead.Antim Panghal began her campaign with a commanding ‘win by fall’ over Singaporean Hsiao Ping Alvina Lim, which she followed with a 6-0 victory over China’s Li Deng in the quarterfinals.

She will now compete for gold against the formidable Japanese Akari Fujinami, the 2021 world champion and a fighter who has not lost a match since she began competing at the senior level in 2020.

Anshu Malik, who won the silver medal at the 2021 world championship and is currently the U23 world champion, was expected to perform well in the 57 kg competition.

Nanjo started out hostile, grabbing Malik’s left leg, but the Indian was able to free himself. Malik was given a time limit for her inaction and was penalised a point for failing to score within the allotted time. The Japanese led 1-0 at the end of the scoreless first period.

Nanjo also forfeited a point in the second period for being inactive, but she quickly grabbed Malik’s left leg and violently turned it, causing Malik to grunt in pain and tap his foot on the mat in a request for the Japanese to release the leg.

The damage was already done when the referee called time on the fight. Malik’s manoeuvre was hampered by the injury, and Japanese won 5-1.

If healthy, Malik will now compete for the bronze medal against Erdenesuvd Bat Erdene of Mongolia.

Sonam Malik (62 kg), Manisha (65 kg), and Reetika (72 kg) will compete for bronze.

Sonam was defeated by Orkhon Purevdorj of Mongolia in her quarterfinal, but since her opponent advanced to the championship match, Sonam recovered.

Greco Roman wrestlers took home four of India’s six medals won thus far in the competition.

On Tuesday, Priya (76 kg) earned a bronze and Nisha Dahiya (68 kg) a silver.