Indian wrestler Anshu Malik bagged the country’s first medal at the Individual World Cup in Belgrade, Serbia, as she finished second in the women’s 57kg category.

The 19-year-old lost in the final of the women’s 57kg category against Moldova’s Anastasia Nichita.

Nichita earned her country’s first gold with a 5-1 victory over world No 7 Anshu. The Moldovan wrestler led 1-0 at the halfway point and that forced Anshu to come out attacking in the second period. But that resulted in a strong counterattack from Nichita, ranked 10th in the world, as she scored a two-point exposure with a throw before adding a takedown midway through the final period.

Anshu tried hard to force her way back into the bout, trying to push Nichita out of bounds before trying a move on her ankles too, but nothing paid off for the Indian youngster.

The silver medal, however, meant that Anshu has won a medal at each of the three international tournaments she’s competed in, according to ESPN India. The Asian Championships bronze medallist has built a reputation as one of India’s most promising young wrestlers and she showed that again with a run to the final after three impressive wins earlier on in this tournament.

Anshu Malik’s run at the World Cup:

Final: Anastasia NICHITA (MDA) df. Anshu ANSHU (IND), 5 - 1
SF: Anshu ANSHU (IND) df. Veronika CHUMIKOVA (RUS), 7 - 4 (win by fall)
QF: Anshu ANSHU (IND) df. Laura MERTENS (GER), 3 - 1
Qual: Anshu ANSHU (IND) df. Alyona KOLESNIK (AZE), 4 - 2

The 57kg is an Olympic category where India have not earned a quota for the Tokyo Olympics yet and this result will come as a shot in the arm for the youngster.

You can watch Anshu’s bouts here:

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With the pandemic situation not allowing trials, the WFI let all the participants at the 2020 Asian Championship in New Delhi to compete in Belgrade, PTI had reported.