Teenage Indian Wrestler: Teenage Indian wrestler Anant Panghal will be participating in the Olympics for the first time this year. Panghal (53kg), who hails from Bhagana village in Haryana’s Hisar district, secured the first quota for India from the 2023 World Wrestling Championships. According to the official release, the 19-year-old Panghal created history by becoming India’s first under-20 world wrestling champion and successfully retained the title the next year. Last year, Panghal won a silver medal at the Asian Wrestling Championships. She also became the youngest Indian to win a medal at the Senior World Wrestling Championships, the official release further said. Panghal, who started her wrestling career as a teenager, is competing in the 53kg category. Age: 19
Ranking: 6
Sport/Discipline: Wrestling Women’s 53kg
First Olympic Games: Paris 2024
Key Achievements
2023 Senior World Championship: Bronze medal
19th Asian Games (2023): Bronze medal
2023 Senior Asian Championship: Silver medal
2023, 2022 U-20 World Championship: Gold medal
2024 Ranking Series, Polak Imre and Vargo Janos Memorial: Silver medal
Paris Olympics Qualification
Antim Panghal (53kg) earned the first quota for India from the 2023 World Wrestling Championship. She defeated two-time European champion Jonna Malmgren of Sweden to win the bronze medal in the women’s 53kg event at the World Wrestling Championships held in Belgrade, Serbia last year, according to an ANI report.
“We train more on the mat. We used to train earlier as well, but now the Olympics is a big game. I qualified for the event for the first time. I was a bit tired because I had an injury. But after that, I did my proper training and focused on everything, be it mat work, basketball training or ground training. The coach has also supported me to do all this. When I went to play in the Ranking Series, I won a silver medal. So, I thought if I perform well in the Olympics, I will win a silver medal,” news agency ANI quoted Anant Panghal as saying.
Recent Performances
Anant Panghal, in one of his recent performances, won a silver medal at the Polak Imre and Varga Janos Memorial Wrestling Tournament held in Budapest, Hungary in June this year. This was his first competition after winning a bronze medal at the Asian Games in 2023, according to Olympics.com. Event Date August 7, Wednesday – Women’s Freestyle 53kg Round of 16 – 3:00 PM
