Reigning world under-20 champion Antim Panghal started brilliantly by winning a gold medal on her debut at the 36th National Games on Sunday.
The 18-year-old from Hisar defeated Madhya Pradesh’s Priyanshi Prajapati by fall in the women’s 53kg event with a dominant display.
Antim outsmarted all her opponents with an identical 10-0 margin to set up a final against World under-20 bronze medalist Priyanshi Prajapat.
Her coach Vikash Bharadwaj said,
“She would keep pursuing as soon as we end our training sessions before any major tournament to search for videos of her opponents. At times it gets difficult to collect videos, especially in domestic competitions as most coaches don’t like sharing inputs, which is quite understandable,”
Antim joined the Babba Lal Das Wrestling Academy in 2016 as a 12-year-old after one of her four elder sisters, a kabaddi player, spotted the wrestling academy in the remote village of Baghana Hisar. After talking it over with her farmer father, she contacted the trainer.
Vikash said,
“She was 12 when she joined our academy, and we found her a perfect fit for wrestling. She had the perfect physique and temperament for being a wrestler, but what actually made her stand out in the crowd was her passion for the sport. She would keep training for hours without a single complaint while others would keep requesting to lessen weight training. For Antim, it was always like what’s next, and we would coax her to rest,”
Losing in the Commonwealth Games qualifiers to an eventual gold medalist in the 53kg weight division Vinesh Phogat has left young Antim dejected. Antim doesn’t like to lose and she finally showed her supremacy again on Sunday at National Games as she opened up a big 5-0 lead early on before taking gold in her debut games.
-- Advertisement --In other categories, Narsingh Pancham Yadav from Maharashtra had to settle for the bronze in the men’s freestyle 74kg division whereas Delhi’s Yash took the gold after defeating Haryana’s Sagar Jaglan in the final.
In the women’s 57kg category, Haryana grappler Mansi defeated Chandigarh’s Neetu by fall to clinch the gold medal.
36th National Games: Today’s schedule
Have a look at the #NationalGames2022 schedule for tomorrow, 3rd October 🤩
All the best to everyone who will be in action at the #36thNationalGames
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— SAI Media (@Media_SAI) October 2, 2022
