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Talented youngster Anthem Pangal made a statement by winning the 53kg trials, moments after her application to contest the exemption granted to Phinch Phogat was rejected while Mansi Ahlawat exceeded expectations by securing her place in India’s Asian Games squad from the 57kg field that captured two world championships, here on Saturday.
The 19-year-old Panghal put in a dominating display in the 53kg category, winning all of her bouts without much fuss.
The 2022 U-20 World Champion, who received a bye in the first round, started with a 7-2 win over Tamanna and followed that up with a technical win over Neha to move on to the semifinals.
The final match was even better as she pinned rival Mango within two minutes.
However, it will be Vainesh Phogat who will represent India in this category during the Asian Games in Hangzhou as the selection committee has already awarded her a direct entry in the 53kg category alongside men’s freestyle wrestler Bajrang Punya (65kg).
“I won the fair and square trial. Why do I have to be the standby player, I won the trial. The person who did not compete should be a 53kg reserve player. My petition has been dismissed but I will not stop, I will continue to fight, we will move the Supreme Court,” Pangal told reporters.
“If you keep getting direct posts like this, how does one know how good we are. We’ll keep trying. My coach will decide what we do next but the fight will go on. What’s the point of me winning three bouts?”
“I know she is very good and has many medals but she has to fight us in the trials,” she said, adding that she will now prepare for the world championship competitions.
The 57kg class turned out to be a very competitive category featuring World Championships silver medalist Anshu Malik and Worlds bronze winner Sarita Moore. The two champion players were drawn into a clash in the first round that was seen as a semi-final.
Sarita Moore led 5-0 against Ancho, who returned from injury. However, the 20-year-old Anshu bounced back with a pulling motion and a wrench. This narrowed the deficit to 4-5 but Sarita used tremendous power to get the win.
Sarita was later stunned by U-23 World Championship bronze medalist Mansi Ahlawat, who took advantage of a unmarried technical foul by Sarita to employ the ‘Vetley’ move to pull off a 9–6 upset victory.
From the other side of the draw, another youngster, Seto, went deep to reach the final, beating Benkei and Neto.
Mansi, who is training under Mandeep at Chhotu Ram Akhada, continued her fine display to easily win the final against Setu through technical excellence.
In the 62kg category, Sonam Malik has made an impressive comeback from a left elbow injury to win the trials. Manisha was equally impressive in the same draw but wrestler from Johanna, who is training under Ajmer Malik, won.
The final match between Sonam and Manisha was expected to be the cracker of a contest but girl Johanna pinned girl Rohtak after pulling a quick and annoying four pointer.
Another wrestler who secured her spot in the Asian Games from Chottu Ram Akhada was CWG’s Bronze winner Pooja Gehlot. She beat Shivani and Neelam quite easily and then pinned veteran Nirmala Devi in ​​the 50kg final.
At 68 kg, Nisha Dahiya was the favourite, but it was Radhika who stole the show. Not only does she knock Nisha out, she eventually qualifies for the Asian Games by defeating Priyanka 9-8 in a very close final.
Divya Kakran, who usually competes at 68kg, moved up to 76kg but couldn’t qualify for the Asian Games, losing the final to veteran Kiran.
In Greco-Roman style, Gyaninder (60kg), Neeraj (67kg), Vikash (77kg), Sunil Kumar (87kg), Narinder Cheema (97kg) and Naveen (130kg) won their respective trials to make it to the Asian Games squad.
The men’s freestyle trials will take place on Sunday.
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