World Wrestling Championships: Aman Sehrawat, Antim Panghal lead India's campaign

Can India land its first gold medal at the World Wrestling Championships since Sushil Kumar’s historic effort in Moscow in 2010?Fifteen years have passed without a top podium finish in men’s and women’s freestyle or greco-roman disciplines, despite several promising campaigns. Since the inaugural World wrestling meet in 1904 in Vienna, India has won a total of 23 medals at the event, including one gold, five silver, and 17 bronze. Twelve of these medals have been achieved after 2018.Bajrang Punia is India’s most successful male wrestler at the biennial championships, winning one silver and three bronze medals. In women’s wrestling, Vinesh Phogat has emerged as the country’s top achiever with two bronze medals. However, no wrestler has matched Sushil Kumar’s feat.This season, India’s next generation of wrestlers has arrived in Zagreb, the Croatian capital, to lead the country’s campaign at the latest World meet, which will run from Sept 13 to 21. They must not forget that it was in Sept when two-time Olympic medallist Sushil became the nation’s first and only wrestler to win gold in the men’s 66kg category.This time, India’s hopes largely rest on Paris Games bronze medallist Aman Sehrawat and 2023 Worlds bronze medallist Antim Panghal.Aman, competing in the men’s 57kg category — a division previously headlined by Tokyo Games silver winner Ravi Dahiya — seeks his maiden World medal after a strong start to the season following his return from a knee injury and muscle pull. The 22-year-old former Asian champion exited in the pre-quarterfinals at the last meet held in Belgrade in 2023. This year, after an injury layoff, Aman participated in two international tournaments, securing bronze at the Ulaanbaatar Open ranking series in June and gold at the Yasar Dogu invitational last month.Antim, a key contender in the women’s 53kg category, aims to overcome a disappointing first-round exit at the Paris Games, where she was eliminated early despite being a two-time junior world champion and a favourite to win medal for India at the Olympics. Antim has regained her form, winning bronze at the Asian Championships earlier this year and claiming successive gold at the Ulaanbaatar meet and the Polyák Imre & Varga János memorial. At the selection trials, she did not concede a single point en route to her final qualification.The competition also presents an opportunity for Olympian Deepak Punia to add another World medal to his collection following a silver finish at the 2019 edition in Nur-Sultan in the men’s 86kg category. Punia has now moved up to the 92kg class, a non-Olympic weight division. Sujeet Kalkal, the reigning U23 Asian champion in the men’s 65kg class, is also among India’s hopefuls.In the women’s division, alongside Antim, India hopes for Asian champion Manisha Bhanwala to deliver a strong performance in the 62kg category, previously dominated by Olympic medallist and CWG champion Sakshi Malik. Under-20 world champion Tapsya Gahlawat (57kg) and under-20 world medallist Priya Malik (76kg) are also set to make their mark at the championships.