Antim PANGHAL

インド

レスリング

誕生年2004

ソーシャルメディア

バイオグラフィー

A two-time under-20 world champion and an Asian Games and senior world wrestling championships medal winner, Antim Panghal is a rising star of Indian wrestling.

Born on August 31, 2004, in Hisar, Haryana, Antim Panghal is the daughter of Ram Niwas Panghal and Krishna Kumari. She has three older sisters and one younger brother.

The oldest of the Panghal siblings, Sarita was a national-level kabaddi player and introduced Antim to wrestling when she was just 10 years old.

Though Antim did well, it took Ram Niwas some time, and goading by Antim’s erstwhile coach Roshni Devi, to come around and support his youngest daughter’s passion. But once he did, Ram Niwas even relocated his family to support Antim’s wrestling career.

Ram Niwas’ confidence in Antim's talents soon began showing results as the young grappler became the 49kg U-15 national champion in 2018 and won a bronze at the U-15 Asian Wrestling Championships in Japan later that year. Several U-17 national titles followed.

In 2020, Antim, just 17 at the time, won the gold medal at the junior Asian Championships and a silver at the U-23 Asian Championships, defeating older opponents.

However, Antim Panghal had one major obstacle to overcome to step up to the senior circuit. Competing in the 53kg weight class - the same division as Indian wrestling icon Vinesh Phogat, a three-time Commonwealth Games champion, two-time world championships bronze medallist and former Asian Games and Asian champion - Antim’s opportunities on the international stage were limited.

However, in 2022, Antim Panghal threw down the gauntlet against her senior compatriot. At the selection trials for the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, Antim almost denied Vinesh a spot in the Indian squad. In the final, Antim led Vinesh 3-0 but her inexperience allowed the senior wrestler to tie the score at 3-3 and win the bout by criteria. Vinesh would go on to win the women’s 53kg title in Birmingham.

Antim Panghal, though, didn’t let the setback drag her down and went on to win the women’s 53kg division at the 2022 Zouhaier Sghaier Ranking Series to bag her first senior gold medal. The Indian wrestler beat the USA’s Dominique Parrish, who became the world champion in the category a couple of months later, en route to the title in Tunis.

A few months later, Antim scripted history by winning a gold medal at the 2022 U-20 World Wrestling Championships in Sofia, thereby becoming the first Indian junior world champion. She defended her crown in Amman in 2023 to become the only Indian to become a two-time junior world champion.

At the Asian Championships 2023 in Astana, Antim won a silver medal after losing to Japan’s Akari Fujinami, a wrestler who is undefeated to date. Later that year, Antim finally made her debut at the world championships and secured a bronze medal. She defeated the then-defending world champion Dominique Parrish en route to the podium.

Courtesy of the win, Antim Panghal also secured a Paris 2024 Olympic quota for India in women’s 53kg wrestling.

A last-minute injury to Vinesh also saw Antim make the Indian contingent for the Asian Games 2023 in October, the People’s Republic of China, and the youngster celebrated by winning a bronze medal at her maiden continental appearance. Antim Panghal defeated Mongolia’s Bat-Ochiryn Bolortuyaa, a bronze medallist from Tokyo 2020, to secure her podium finish at Hangzhou.

Antim Panghal was named the women’s Rising Star of the Year 2023 by United World Wrestling (UWW), the world governing body of the sport, in December.