Manisha Bhanwala fought back from 6-0 down to beat American Abigail Nette 8-6 in the 59kg final in Astana, becoming India's first woman world wrestling champion and anchoring a record four-medal haul.
Manisha Bhanwala won the 59kg gold at the World Wrestling Championships in Astana on Friday, beating American Abigail Nette 8-6 after trailing by six points to become the first Indian woman to be crowned world champion. The 29-year-old from Jind, Haryana, is only the second Indian wrestler to win a world title, after Sushil Kumar's 66kg gold in 2010.
Nette took control early, scoring four points with a throw that India's corner challenged without success. The failed review handed her a fifth point, and a caution against Manisha made it 6-0. A step-out before the break gave Manisha her first point. In the second period, a takedown, which the American side also challenged and lost, brought another point, and a gut-wrench levelled the bout at 6-6, though Nette still led on criteria. Manisha then scored a takedown to go 8-6 and held on through the closing seconds. She reached the final with a fall over Canada's Laurence Beauregard, a 6-0 win over Mongolia's Bolortuya Khurelkhuu, and a technical superiority win over Kazakhstan's Altyn Shagayeva in the semifinal. Afterwards, she said she wants to defend the title next year in Las Vegas at the Olympic weight of 57kg, adding that she hoped Indian girls would now feel less pressure in finals.
Manisha's gold completed India's best women's campaign at the event. Neelam Sirohi won silver at 50kg and 18-year-old Kajal Dhochak took silver at 76kg, while Tanu Sharma added bronze at 72kg, making four medals against the previous best of one silver and one bronze in 2021. The Indian Express reported that Indian women reached three finals for the first time in the competition's 35-year history. The result follows a poor Asian Games, where Antim Panghal was India's only women's medallist. High performance director Ian Butler rated the team's effort eight out of ten, saying room for improvement remained, and noted that three of the four medallists had not competed at the Asian Games.
Manisha grew up in a farming family in Jind, where her brother Rinku played kabaddi, and the family chose an individual sport for her. Her father Suresh died in 2022, on the morning she was due to leave for the Asian Championships in Mongolia, and she considered quitting before her family persuaded her to travel. She returned with a bronze and went on to win more Asian medals, including gold last year. Before leaving for Astana, she had photographs of her parents printed on a white T-shirt, and her brother said she was determined to show it to the world after winning gold. She did so after the final. She has competed in the 62kg, 65kg and 57kg classes, and found her biggest success at the non-Olympic 59kg.
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