Advertisement

Updated October 7th, 2021 at 17:05 IST

Anshu Malik becomes 1st Indian woman to make it to finals of World Wrestling Championship

Haryana's Anshu Malik on Wednesday, October 6, created history as she became the first Indian woman to reach to the finals of the World Wrestling Championship.

Reported by: Vishal Tiwari
Anshu Malik, World Wrestling Championship, Wrestling Championship, Anshu Malik Wrestling, Indian wrestling, Geeta Phogat, Babita Phogat
Image: @mssirsa/Twitter | Image:self
Advertisement

Haryana's Anshu Malik on Wednesday, October 6, created history as she became the first Indian female wrestler to reach the final of the World Championships. The 19-year-old qualified for the gold-medal match after she beat Ukraine's Solomiia Vynnyk 11-0 in the penultimate match of the competition in Oslo. Malik won the match in the 57kg category on basis of technical superiority. No Indian female wrestler had ever made it to the final of the World Championships before Malik. 

"It's extremely satisfying. I am so happy. It feels so good. What I could not do at the Tokyo Games I did that here. I fought each and every bout as my last bout," said Anshu after making the final. The month after the Tokyo Games was very tough. I could not perform as I had wanted at the Games. I suffered an injury (elbow) and can't explain how much pain I endured one month before the World championship. I trained hard for this, I wanted to give my 100 percent and will fight final like my last bout," she said. Anshu had lost her first round bout and also repechage round at the Tokyo Olympics," Malik was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.  

Indian wrestlers at World Wrestling Championship

Only four Indian female wrestlers have won medals at the World Championships before; however, all of those had come in the bronze-medal matches. Alka Tomar in 2006 was the first Indian female wrestler to win a medal at the Championships, followed by Geeta Phogat (2012), Babita Phogat (2012), Pooja Dhanda (2018), and Vinesh Phogat (2019).  

Apart from becoming the first-ever Indian female wrestler to reach the final of the World Championships, Malik also became the sixth Indian overall to qualify for the gold-medal match. Bishambar Singh (1967), Sushil Kumar (2010), Amit Dahiya (2013), Bajrang Punia (2018), and Deepak Punia (2019) had made it to the finals of the World Championships before. Only Sushil Kumar has won a gold medal for India in World Championships and Malik has a chance of registering her name in the record books if she wins the final. 

Malik will lock horns against Helen Maroulis of the United States in the final match of the World Championships women's freestyle 57 kilograms category. 

Image: @mssirsa/Twitter

Advertisement

Published October 7th, 2021 at 17:05 IST

Your Voice. Now Direct.

Send us your views, we’ll publish them. This section is moderated.

Advertisement
Advertisement

Trending Quicks

Zomato delivery boy in tears over blocked account
7 minutes ago
Congress Press Conference
8 minutes ago
L&T Shipbuilding facility
15 minutes ago
RCB vs KKR
16 minutes ago
Pooja Vastrakar
17 minutes ago
Crew posters
42 minutes ago
Big Communication Gap Within the Congress: Sanjay Nirupam Targets Party Leadership | EXCLUSIVE
43 minutes ago
VST Tillers Tractors
43 minutes ago
High-net-worth women show a nuanced approach to wealth with interest in alternative investments and cautious risk tolerance.
44 minutes ago
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Whatsapp logo