Antim Panghal Becomes India’s First Female Wrestler To Win Gold At U20 World

Antim Panghal made history as the first Indian woman wrestler to ever win gold at the Under 20 Wrestling World Championships. On Friday, she took first place in the 53kg division at the World Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria.

In the past, Antim has won gold at the Asian Junior Championships and bronze at the Cadet World Championships (2021). (2022). This year, she also took home silver from the U23 Asian Championships. The victory by fall over Ayaka Kimura of Japan in the quarterfinal was the highlight of Antim's journey to the title.

Antim Panghal Wins Gold At U20 World Championships

In a shocking rebuke to patriarchy, 18-year-old Antim Panghal of Haryana defeated Kazakhstan's Atlyn Shagayeva 8-0 to win the global U-20 wrestling championship in Sofia, Bulgaria. Panghal is the first Indian woman to win the title. Currently, the world-beating Antim Panghal is the final authority on what glory, pride, and honour are.

The stunning grappler, who goes by the name Antim after her parents Ram Niwas and Krishna Kumari, earlier steamrolled past Natalia Klivchutska of Ukraine with an 11-1 win in the semi-final on Thursday to book her place in the final. The Panghal family was cheering for their daughter's every move, watching the final on their phone before going to the youngster's wrestling academy to celebrate the feat.

Reportedly young Antim would follow her mother to the family's one-and-a-half-acre farm in their village of Baghana in Hisar, ferrying her father's meals because her older sisters Sarita, Meenu, and Nisha chose to pursue their educations. The young girl would frequently watch neighbourhood wrestlers train at the village akhada, but her father wanted Antim to choose wrestling, so the family sent her to the Baba Lal Das Wrestling Academy.

According to sources, Antim experienced her biggest setback three months ago when she lost to Vinesh Phogat, a two-time Commonwealth Games and Asian Games winner, in the Commonwealth Games selection trials finals.

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Deepak Punia is the only other Indian to have won gold at the U20 World Championships (Freestyle 86.0, 2019) Kumar Ramesh (Freestyle 69, 2001) Pappu Yadav and Palwinder Singh Cheema (Freestyle 130, 2001) (Greco-Roman 50, 1992). Another name that stood out during the competition on her path to the silver was Priya Malik. The two-time Cadet World Champion gave her Japanese opponent a fierce fight in the final, taking silver. Sonam Malik and Priyanka were additional silver medalists.