Indian wrestler Antim Panghal on Wednesday won the United World Wrestling’s women’s Rising Star of the Year award.
The 19-year-old, who won bronze medals at the 2023 World Championships and the 2022 Asian Games, had been in incredible form this year.
In August 2022, Antim made history by becoming the first Indian wrestler to win a gold medal at the World U20 Wrestling Championships and this year in Amman, she retained the medal. Antim took home a silver medal from the Asian Championships in Astana in April 2023.
The Haryana grappler claimed the bronze medal in her debut at the Senior World Championships earlier this year. In the first round, Antim defeated the reigning champion Parrish, but in the semi-finals, she was defeated by Belarus’ Vanesa Kaladzinskaya. She defeated Sweden’s Jonna Malmgren, a two-time European champion, to win the bronze. As a result, she also secured her quota spot at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
Antim’s incredible journey continued in Hangzhou at the Asian Games, where she made her debut and took home a bronze medal. She defeated the Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist Bat-Ochiryn Bolortuyaa of Mongolia in the repechage rounds to claim the podium.