Manisha Bhanwala etched her name in the annals of Indian sports history on Friday, becoming the first woman from the country to strike gold at the Senior World Wrestling Championships as the country finished the competition with four medals.
Manisha clinched the gold medal with a thrilling victory in the 59kg final as India ended with one gold, two silver and one bronze medal.
Competing in a high-stakes title clash against the USA’s Abigail Elizabeth Nette, Manisha displayed immense grit and tactical brilliance to emerge victorious after a daunting comeback (0-6) and went on to win the bout 8-6, shattering the glass ceiling for Indian women’s wrestling.
Before Manisha’s brilliant comeback victory, India had never won a gold medal in women’s wrestling at the global showpiece. She finally crossed the hurdle that had previously eluded Anshu Malik in 2021, as well as her current teammates Kajal Dhochak and Neelam Sirohi, who both settled for silver medals earlier in this edition.
Manisha’s historic gold brings to a fitting, glorious end a spectacular campaign for the Indian women’s contingent, which signed off with an impressive haul of four medals.
In the men’s freestyle competition, Vicky Hooda’s campaign came to a close in the 97kg repechage round. Going up against Iranian heavyweight Hassan Yazdani, Vicky was handed a 0-10 defeat by technical superiority.
Meanwhile, the Indian men’s freestyle campaign in the 61kg, 70kg, 86kg, and 125kg categories also concluded in the preliminary stages, with the grapplers bowing out before Friday’s semifinals.
India’s final medal tally at the 2026 World Championships:
Women’s Wrestling (4 Medals)
Gold (1): Manisha Bhanwala (59kg)
Silver (2): Kajal Dhochak, Neelam Sirohi
Bronze (1): Tanu Sharma (72kg)
-IANS
