New Delhi, August 20: India’s Home Minister Amit Shah congratulated and heaped praise on India’s Under-20 World Wrestling champion Antim Panghal after she won a gold medal in the women’s 53 Kg weight category in Bulgaria’s Sofia.
Antim Panghal became the first woman grappler to win a gold medal in the Junior World Wrestling Championship.
“Proud moment. Congratulations to Antim Panghal for creating history and becoming the first Indian girl to win a Gold medal at the U-20 World Championships. India salutes your hard work and commitment. Best wishes for your bright future, keep shining, ” tweeted Home Minister Amit Shah.
In the qualification round, Antim defeated German Wrestler 11-0. In the quarterfinal, the Japanese were shocked when Antim defeated the Japanese grappler by fall. In the semi-final, she easily defeated a Ukraine wrestler and in the final, she defeated the Kazakh wrestler.
The two other wrestlers lost in the final and secured silver medals while the two other wrestlers won bronze medal bouts. With this, the Indian Junior Women Wrestling Team clinched the runner-up trophy with 160 points, Japan stood in the first position with 230 points and the USA were third with 124 points.
For India, Antim won gold in 53 Kg, Sonam and Priyanka bagged silver medals in 62 and 65 Kg respectively while bronze medals were won by Sito and Reetika in 57 and 72 Kg respectively.
In Greco-Roman Style, all five wrestlers lost their first bout. The bouts in the remaining five weight categories will be held on Saturday.
Lately, Indian grapplers have been in sensational form winning 12 medals in the Commonwealth Games, including six gold medals, taking India’s tally to 61 medals in the quadrennial event. (Agencies)