World Wrestling Championships 2023: Antim Panghal defeats world champion to enter quarterfinals

India's young wrestler Antim Panghal made a great start to her campaign in the World Wrestling Championships 2023 by defeating America's current world champion Olivia Dominique Parrish in the qualification round in Belgrade, Serbia on Wednesday.

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Continuing her fine run, Antim defeated Roksana Zasina of Polan in the pre-quarters by 10-0 to fix her place in the quarterfinals. She will face Natalia Malysheva for a place in the World Wrestling Championships 2023 semi-finals.

Panghal was trailing 0-2 at one point in this first-round match. But after that, she made a strong comeback and won 3-2. The American wrestler was dominant in the beginning itself. She grabbed Panghal's right leg and took down the Indian wrestler, scoring two points. After this, the 19-year-old Indian wrestler's defense was very strong and she foiled two more such attempts and did not lose any further points in the first period.

Even after this, Panghal maintained its strong defense and did not allow Parrish to attack in any way. The Indian wrestler then grabbed the left leg of the American player and threw her down. After that, Antim leveled the match by scoring two points. Parrish then lost a point for being inactive. Panghal maintained this slight lead till the end and won.

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However, India's five female wrestlers and 10 male freestyle wrestlers have already been eliminated from the World Wrestling Championships 2023. They also failed to achieve Olympic quota or win medals in non-Olympic categories. Manisha Bhanwala (62 kg), Priyanka (68 kg), and Jyoti Berwal (72 kg) lost their respective bouts in the round of 32.

Antim remains India's only hope to win an Olympic quota in the World Wrestling Championships 2023. The wrestlers are playing as netural athletes due to suspension of the Wrestling Federation of India by the United World Wrestling.