Manisha Bhanwala bags gold; Antim Panghal clinches bronze at Asian Wrestling Ch’ships

AMMAN: Wrestlers Manisha Bhanwala (62 kg) and Antim Panghal (53 kg) brought laurels for India as they bagged gold and bronze medals, respectively, in their respective categories at the Asian Wrestling Championships 2025 in Amman, Jordan, on Friday, as per the Olympics.com.

Manisha Bhanwala defeated the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s Ok J Kim 8-7 in the final to secure India’s first women’s freestyle wrestling gold medal at the continental meet since 2021.

Vinesh Phogat and Sarita Mor won their respective categories at the 2021 edition. Manisha began her medal hunt with a win over Kazakhstan’s Tynys Dubek via technical superiority.

𝐆𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚

Manisha Bhanwala clinches India’s first gold medal at the 𝐀𝐬𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐖𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 in Jordan!

#Wrestling #Champion #AsianWrestlingChampionship #GoldenGirl pic.twitter.com/kgWgOZI1mS

— All India Radio News (@airnewsalerts) March 29, 2025

The Indian wrestler pinned down the Republic of Korea’s Hanbit Lee in the quarterfinals before accounting for Kyrgyzstan’s Kalmira Bilimbek Kyzy, the defending champion, in the quarterfinals by a 5-1 scoreline.

Manisha, who had won three consecutive bronze medals at the Asian Championships from 2022 to 2024, seemed destined for a silver this time around as she was trailing 2-7 against Ok J Kim. However, she upgraded herself to gold at the 11th hour after turning the tables in spectacular fashion.

Meanwhile, Antim Panghal marked her return to international competition since the Paris 2024 Olympics with a bronze in the 53kg division.

Antim Panghal started her campaign with a 10-6 victory over World Championships silver medallist Jin Zhang of the People’s Republic of China but lost to 55kg world champion Moe Kiyooka of Japan via technical superiority in the semi-finals.

ANTIM PANGHAL WINS BRONZE IN ASIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS

Antim Panghal defeated Meng Hsieh 10-0 to win in Women’s 53kg category.

She defeated Worlds in 55 kg Jin Zhang 10-6 in QF before losing to 55kg World Champion Moe Kiyooka via TSU. pic.twitter.com/iqpjkaHd84

— SPORTS ARENA (@SportsArena1234) March 28, 2025

Antim Panghal then defeated Chinese Taipei’s Meng Hsuan Hsieh via technical superiority to secure her bronze. The two medals on Friday took India’s tally at the ongoing championships to seven medals – one gold, one silver and five bronze.

Reigning U23 world champion Reetika Hooda won a silver medal in the women’s freestyle 76kg division on Thursday. Muskan (women’s 59kg), Mansi Lather (women’s 68kg) and Greco-Roman wrestlers Nitesh (97kg) and Sunil Kumar (87kg) had won bronze medals earlier in the competition.

The remaining three Indian wrestlers — Neha Sharma (57kg), Monika (65kg) and Jyoti Berwal (72kg) — in action on the day returned empty-handed.

Indian men’s freestyle wrestlers, including Tokyo 2020 Olympian Deepak Punia, will be in action during the next two days of the continental meet. (ANI)