Wrestler Manju Kumari secured a bronze medal at the Junior World Wrestling Championship in Tampere, Finland. Manju defeated Ukraine's Ilona Prokopevniuk bag the bronze on Thursday, August 3rd. The championships are on until 6th August.
WINNING MOVE
Manju, who was competing in the 59 kg category, was confident in her bouts. She first took down Bulgaria's Aleksandrina Nikolaeva Kashinova in the 1/8 stage. Following that, she had a dominating 5-1 victory. Going ahead was tough, as she was knocked out by Japan's Yuzuru Kumano 0-10 in her quarterfinal bout, Indian Express reported.
She picked a gold in 2016 in the South Asian Games held in Guwahati.
With the Japanese advancing to the final, Manju was quick to pick an opportunity in her repechage bout. She then defeated Tianna Grace Kennett of Canada 4-0 to storm into the bronze-medal play-offs.
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Not everyone from India had the same run. While Manju got attention for her bouts, others like Divya Tomar (44kg), Nandini Salokhe (51kg) and Pooja Devi (67kg), failed to make a mark at the championship.
Also Read: Geeta Phogat Dreams Of Setting Up Academy To Train Girls In Wrestling
With this win, Manju Kumari is the lone Indian woman to have won a medal in the women’s wrestling championship this year. Manju is a freestyle wrestler. She picked a gold in 2016 in the South Asian Games held in Guwahati.
We wish her good luck for her future endeavours. Congratulations Manju Kumari!
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Indian women wrestling remains in the spotlight ever since Olympics 2016. That's when Phogat sisters and Sakshi Malik put the sport on the front page for Indians. Since then, reporting on junior wrestling too has gone up. Sport can be a gamechanger for women in India and we hope these developments are a step in that direction.
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