Two of India’s biggest medal hopes at the Wrestling World Championships, which get underway in Zagreb on Saturday, will compete with contrasting goals.
For Aman Sehrawat, it’ll be a chance to win his maiden Worlds medal after the bronze at last year’s Paris Olympics. On the other hand, Antim Panghal, who won a World Championship bronze in 2023, will seek redemption after a nightmare Paris Games, where she lost in the first round and was subsequently evicted from the Athletes Village for breaking rules.
The two wrestlers, still in their early 20s, will headline an Indian team short on experience and thin medal hopes.
Aman’s tough path to podium
Seeded third, Aman has competed in only a couple of tournaments since the Paris Olympics. He won a gold medal at the Ulaanbaatar Ranking Series, where many top names were missing. Aman also finished on top of the podium at the Yasar Dogu tournament in Turkey.
But the field he’ll face in Zagreb will be several notches higher than the two competitions he has taken part in so far. The USA’s Spencer Johnson, who won the silver medal at the Paris Olympics, will start as a favourite to win the gold medal.
Gulomjon Abdullaev, the wily Uzbek who also won a bronze in Paris, will remain another contender but Aman’s biggest challenge will probably come from Asian champion Chong Song Han. The North Korean has competed just twice in major events in the last three years but on both occasions, he has finished on the podium. After winning the silver at the Asian Games, which was North Korea’s first competition since the pandemic, he romped his way through the Asian Championship gold, beating the Japanese, Mongolian and Iranian wrestlers on the way.
Aman said he’s in the best shape since Paris, but the lack of mat-time could be a factor in his quest for a medal.
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Antim faces heavyweight field
Antim appears to have overcome the disappointment in Paris by winning a bronze medal at the Asian Championship and two gold medals in the Ranking Series. She is seeded fourth in a weight class, 53kg, that is stacked with world-class wrestlers.
Just how tough it will be to beat the Japanese wrestler can be gauged from the fact that Haruna Okuno, the reigning champion at 55 kg, made it to the team by defeating another world champion, Moe Kiyooka.
Japan won’t be the only big challenge for Antim, who’ll also have to overcome the explosive Olympic silver medalist Lucia Yepez and Asian champion Hyo Gyong Choe, the North Korean who beat Kiyooka in the Asian Championship final.
Other Indian bets
Despite lacking experience, India’s wrestlers have a tendency to spring surprises.
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Former Worlds silver medallist Deepak Punia, who couldn’t qualify for the Olympics, will hope to make up for that disappointment. The veteran wrestler is competing in the non-Olympic 92 kg weight class. Sujeet Kalkal will be hoping to stamp his authority in the 65 kg category, where Tokyo bronze medallist Bajrang Punia once ruled.
Over on the women’s side, there are several promising young wrestlers, including under-20 world champion Tapsya Gahlawat (57kg) and double under-20 world medallist Priya Malik (76kg).
