Antim Panghal wins World Wrestling Championships 2023 trials in Patiala; Divya and Sarita make a spectacular comeback

Antim Panghal on Friday won the World Wrestling Championships 2023 trials in Patiala, earning herself the right to vie for a quota place for next year's Paris Olympics 2024. She will lead India's charge in the tournament. At the same time, Divya Kakran and Sarita Mor overcame the disappointment of Asian Games trials losses to enter the global tournament.

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Antim recently became the first Indian woman wrestler to defend her title at the U-20 World Cup in Amman. She had also won the Asian Games trials last month. Manju, Pooja Jat, and Rajni also challenged in the 53kg category in the trials, but Antim secure the berth for the World Wrestling Championships 2023 to be held in Belgrade from 16 September.

Meanwhile, World Championships bronze-medallist Sarita Mor made a stunning comeback after suffering a shock defeat to U-23 World Championships bronze-medallist Mansi Ahlawat in the 57kg trials at the Asian Games last month. But She won the trials at the World Wrestling Championships 2023 to seal her place in the team. Kakran, who had tried her luck in 68kg to 76kg during the Asian Games trials last month, was disappointed in the Asian Games trials. However, in this category, she leveled the score by defeating Railway wrestler Kiran. Kiran had defeated Kakran in the trials of the Asian Games.

On the other hand, Antim Kundu, a silver medalist at the U-20 World Championships, also booked her place in the 65kg category for the World Wrestling Championships 2023.

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World Wrestling Championships 2023 Selection Trials Results:

Greco-Roman Style:

55kg Ajay (Del); 60kg Manish (RSPB); 63kg: Vikram (Mah); 67kg Vinayak (Mah); 72kg: Ankit Gulia (SSCB); 77kg: Gurpreet Singh (PB); 82kg: Sajan (RSPB); 87kg: Manoj Kumar (Har); 97kg: Sailesh (Mah); 130kg: Mehar Singh (SSCB).

Women's wrestling:

50kg: Neelam (UP); 53kg Antim (Har); 55kg: Neha (Del); 57kg: Sarita (RSPB); 59kg: Anjali (Har); 62kg: Manisha (Har); 65kg: Antim (Har); 68kg: Priyanka (Har); 72kg: Jyoti Berwal (Har); 76kg: Divya Kakran (UP). PTI AM AM KHS KHS