World Wrestling Championships 2023: India’s Antim Panghal Wins Women’s 53 kg Bronze, Secures Paris Olympics 2024 Quota

Rising wrestling star Antim Panghal secured a bronze medal in the women’s 53 kg category and a Paris Olympics 2024 quota for India at the ongoing World Wrestling Championships 2023 in Belgrade, Serbia on Thursday.  She beat two-time European Champion Emma Jonna Denise Malmgren in the bronze medal bout by 16-6.

This is India’s first medal at the ongoing edition of the tournament. Antim has captured India’s 23rd medal in the World Championships till date, which includes one gold, five silver and 17 bronze medals.

Sports Authority of India (SAI) Media took to X (formerly Twitter) to share the news about the victory of this Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) athlete. Panghal qualified for Round 16 in the World Wrestling Championships in Belgrade on Wednesday.

__'s Rising Wrestling _, @OlyAntim wins the_medal bout at #WorldWrestlingChampionships,___ defeating 2_-time European champion in 53kg weight category _

The trail of victory didn't stop there as the #TOPSchemeAthlete also went on to secure an #Paris2024 quota for India in_ pic.twitter.com/piRoYUfEMA — SAI Media (@Media_SAI) September 21, 2023

Panghal caused a major upset by defeating last year's World Champion Parris D 3-2 in the 53kg weight category. Then in the round of 16, she beat Roksana Marta Zasina of Poland, qualifying for the quarterfinals. She beat her opponent by 10-0 via VSU (Victory by technical superiority).

In her final eight bout, she defeated Russia’s Natalia Malysheva by 9-6 via VPO1 (Victory by Points with Technical Points). Vanesa Kaladzinskaya of Belarusia ended the wrestler's winning streak in the semis, but Antim stayed eligible for a bronze medal match, which she won eventually.

“Antim had gone to the World championships thinking she would fight for the gold. She wasn’t thinking of any other medal. She knew she had to win gold for people to believe that she was the best wrestler in India in her category. But it wasn’t meant to be,” Vikas Bhardwaj, who coaches Antim at Hisar Baba Lal Das Kushti Akhada, was quoted as saying by Sportstar.

Antim Panghal didn’t have the best preparation in the build-up to the World championships. Just a day before she left for Serbia, Antim suffered a fall while climbing a rope at her akhara. Although the 15-foot fall didn’t cause any serious damage, coach Bhardwaj admitted that she was still bruised after the incident.

Antim looked to be in fine touch, opening her competition with what was on paper an upset of 2022 World Champion Dominique Parrish, beating the American 3-2. Although Antim had beaten the American last year in the Tunisia ranking series, this was her first win over Parrish following the latters world title. The Indian followed that up with a 10-0 disposal of Poland’s Roksana Zasina and then a tightly fought 4-3 win over Russian veteran Natalia Malysheva in the quarterfinals. Then came the agonizing loss against Kaladzinskaya.