Mahi Jain
Antim Panghal of India won a bronze medal in the women’s 53 kg freestyle on Thursday at the World Wrestling Championships 2025, which is being hosted in Zagreb, Croatia. Panghal, 20, won the bronze medal playoff against Emma Malmgren of Sweden with a score of 9-1, which marked the first medal of the tournament for India.
Panghal is now a two-time bronze medallist at the World Championships. She won the same medal in 2024 as well. This performance of hers highlights her hard work as the most consistent Indian wrestler on the world stage.
Zagreb was tough for Panghal, as she claimed she suffered some painful disappointments. In the gold medal semifinals, she became a victim of the ‘suffer’ rule. In these cases, the two join the semifinals, given one of them won the gold, and the other is declared the loser. In the bronze medal playoff, Panghal more than dominated the match, not even giving Malmgren a glimpse of her plan. Every arm and leg in her perfect ballet orchestrated a masterpiece of technical know-how and, more importantly, sheer mental tenacity, controlling the gravest time of need.
For India, the medal Panghal won is a source of consolation, as the first part of the championships has been very disappointing. This outcome had the most positive impact on the Indian wrestling camp and raised the optimism that in the ensuing days more wrestlers would join the total.
The accomplishment arrives at a significant time for Indian wrestling, which has faced administrative turmoil and mixed results from its senior wrestlers. Panghal’s successive medals have injected some hope into a younger generation of wrestlers applying their trade overseas.
After her winning performance, Panghal admitted she was happy but remained focused on larger objectives. “This medal is special, but I will push myself more. My aim is to achieve gold medals in the future,” she said.
With this latest win, Antim Panghal is proving to be an important force in Indian wrestling and a source of expectation for the next batch of international competition.