India’s under-20 wrestlers finished the competition ahead of women’s wrestling powerhouses Japan and the USA thanks to medal wins in seven of the ten weight classes, including three gold, one silver, and three bronze.
As far as performances go, they were as different as they come: one was a defensive master class paired with amazing agility and tactical understanding, and the other was an ultra-attacking spectacular that was over in four minutes. Both, however, produced the same outcomes: gold medals for Savita Dalal and Antim Panghal.
At the Junior World Championships in Amman, India’s women wrestlers produced their best-ever results despite unending gloom, an inactive federation, and sexual harassment claims against its former leader that plunged the sport into turmoil.
Without training, camps, or competition, the under-20 wrestlers took home medals in seven of the ten weight divisions, including three gold, one silver, and three bronze, to finish first overall, ahead of the USA and Japan, two of the top nations in women’s wrestling.
Antim Panghal, a wrestler who was pounding on the doors of the High Court, the Sports Ministry, and the Indian Olympic Association till a fortnight ago, was the featured performer. Even though she had planned to compete in Amman, the first Indian to win two Under-20 World Championship championships wasn’t certain. She only went because the dates for the Senior World Championship selection trials had not yet been set in stone.
Antim made the trip to the capital of Jordan in order to compete in an international match, which was unusual this year due to the dissolution of the federation in the wake of claims of sexual harassment made against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh by six female wrestlers. She didn’t have to work very hard to reach the top of the podium in the 53 kg division.
She defeated Poland’s Nikola Wisniewska in her opening match in less than a minute, then defeated China’s Xuejing Liang with technical superiority (i.e., by a score of 10) and blanked Russia’s Polina Lukina in a one-sided semifinal. Finally, she defeated Ukraine’s Mariia Yefremova 4-0 in the gold medal match.
The most talented teenage wrestler in Indian wrestling established her dominance by earning 38 points and giving up just two points in her four matches.
But Antim’s true difficulties are still to come.
Vinesh Phogat, a World Championship medalist who also participates in the 53 kg weight class, was excluded from the Asian Games trials by the IOA-appointed ad-hoc committee, and Antim took the administrators to court to contest the decision.
Antim lost the match in court, but now she finds herself in an unusual situation where she must play in three events over the course of the next six weeks since Vinesh, the defending Asian Games gold medalist, withdrew from the Hangzhou Games due to knee surgery.
The wrestler will have to go to Patiala for the World Championships selection trials, which start on September 16, right after returning from Amman. It would be a huge surprise if Antim wasn’t traveling to Belgrade next month after how easily she won the Asian Games trials. She will then need to take a direct flight to Hangzhou for the Asian Games.
Due to the proximity of the competitions, Antim will need to constantly monitor her weight and maintain her health. While there won’t be any such leniency for the two major events, wrestlers are expected to be given a weight tolerance of 2 kg for the selection trials, meaning they can weigh no more than 2 kg over the allowed limit in the weight group. As a result, Antim will have to either maintain her weight or reduce it twice in such a short amount of time, which is challenging for a wrestler.
