Antim Panghal saves the day with bronze

Hangzhou, October 5

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Teen sensation Antim Panghal humbled Tokyo Olympics medallist Bolortuya Bat Ochir 3-1 to win a bronze medal but other Indian wrestlers struggled at the Asian Games here today.

The 19-year-old Antim bounced back after losing her quarterfinal bout to two-time Japanese world champion Akari Fujinami in a superb manner as she did not let the Mongolian attack much in the women’s 53kg category bronze playoff.

Earlier, Antim scored an easy 11-0 victory over Uzbekistan’s Jasmina Immaeva to set up a quarterfinal clash against the Japanese, the World Championships winner in 2021 and 2023.

Antim saved the day for the Indian contingent which badly needed a medal after Narinder Cheema (Greco-Roman 97kg), Naveen (Greco-Roman 130kg) and Pooja Gehlot (50kg) were ousted.

Pooja was outplayed 9-2 in the bronze medal bout by Aktenge Keunimjaeva, the Asian Championships bronze winner.

A lot was expected from Mansi Ahlawat (57kg), but she ended up losing her bronze playoff by fall to Uzbekistan’s Laylokhon Sobirova, who needed just 70 seconds to win the contest.

In other matchups, Cheema lost his quarterfinal 1-3 to South Korea’s Lee Seyeol, while Mansi was defeated 5-2 by Japan’s Sakurai Tsugumi in the last-eight round.

Naveen, too, lost his quarterfinal contest 0-3 to 25-year-old Chinese Meng Lingzhe.