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The United World Wrestling (UWW) named Indian wrestler Antim Panghal the Women’s Rising Star of the Year 2023. The U20 women’s champion has had a stellar season and was able to overshadow the senior player Vinesh Phogat, who competes in the same category as hers, i.e. 53kg. Panghal kicked off the year with a silver medal at the Asian Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan. She lost the finale bout to Japan’s Akari Fujinami, who is running on an undefeated streak in her senior wrestling career.
Not only this, but the 19-year-old is also the reigning U20 world champion, as she successfully defended the title in Amman, Jordan this August. With her victory, she became the only two-time junior world champion from India. The Haryana wrestler made her senior world championships debut in Belgrade, Serbia in September. She concluded her first senior championships with a bronze medal.
Panghal had defeated Sweden’s two-time European champion Jonna Malmgren in the medal bout. The victory also granted her a Paris Olympics 2024 quota for India in the women’s 53kg category. The wrestler’s medal spree continued as she added another feather to her cap by winning a medal at her maiden Asian Games in Hangzhou, the Republic of China. She had beaten Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist Bat-Ochir Bolortuya of Mongolia in the medal match.
Talking of the Rising Star of the Year award in the men’s freestyle and Greco-Roman categories, Greece’s Georgios Kougioumtsidis and Azerbaijan’s Hasrat Jafarov took the honours home.
