World Wrestling C'ships: Antim Panghal wins bronze and quota for Paris Olympics
Antim Panghal, India's next big star, has earned India's first wrestling quota for the Paris Olympics by virtue of winning a bronze at the world championship Belgrade.
She defeated two-time European Champion Emma Malmgren of Sweden by technical superiority with a 16-6 score Friday in the women's 53kg women's freestyle wrestling .
The world championship offered five quota places in each weight category for men and women.
With this, India has so far grabbed 16 quota including eight direct qualification in athletics and seven quota places in shooting sports. In shooting and wrestling, the quota is earned for the country which the sportsperson represents.
In Belgrade, Indian wrestlers however participated as neutral athletes as United World Wrestling suspended Wrestling Federation of India due to a delay in conducting elections. However, it is expected that an election will be held well before the Paris Olympics, which will begin on July 26, 2024.
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The Belgrade world championship is the first of the six Olympic qualifying events for the next year's Olympics.
Panghal, the two-time Under 20 World Champion, narrowly lost the semifinal bout Thursday against Tokyo Olympic Bronze winner Vanesa Kaladzinskaya of Belarus by 4-5 margin.
Enroute to the semifinal, Panghal defeated reigning World Champion Dominique Parrish of USA by 3-2 in the qualification bou. It was the second consecutive win for her against Parrish. She also trounced Polish grappler Roksana
