Manisha Bhanwala became the first Indian wrestler to win a women’s freestyle gold medal at the World Wrestling Championships after a stunning comeback victory in the 59kg final in Astana, Kazakhstan, on Friday.
The 29-year-old Manisha Bhanwala, competing at the World Wrestling Championships 2026came back from 6-0 down to beat reigning Pan American champion Abigail Nette of the USA 8-6 in the gold medal bout.
Manisha became only the second Indian wrestler to win a senior world title. Two-time Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar was previously India’s only world champion, having won the men’s 66kg freestyle crown in 2010.
The gold marked a new high in the career of Manisha, the 2025 Asian champion, who had competed at three previous senior World Championships without winning a medal.
She made it to the bronze medal bout in the non-Olympic 65kg division in Tirana in 2024 but lost 8-2 to Japan’s Miwa Morikawa.
Earlier this month, Manisha competed in the 57kg division at the Asian Games 2026, where she ran into Japanese star Akari Fujinami in the quarter-finals.
Fujinami, the Paris 2024 Olympic champion and a two-time world champion, beat Manisha 3-0 in a closely fought contest.
Manisha switched to the non-Olympic 59kg category for the World Championships and produced a dominant run to the final.
She began her campaign with a victory by fall over Canada’s 2025 world bronze medallist and four-time Pan American champion Laurence Beauregard before beating Mongolia’s Bolortuya Khurelkhuu 6-0 in the quarter-finals.
In the semi-finals, Manisha overwhelmed home favourite and former U23 world bronze medallist Altyn Shagayeva of Kazakhstan.
The Indian led 3-0 after the opening period before stretching her advantage to 10-0 and securing the fall to book her place in the gold medal bout.
Manisha’s victory took India’s medal tally at the championships to four – one gold, two silver and one bronze – with all four medals coming in women’s freestyle.
Neelam Sirohi won silver in the women’s 50kg category, Kajal Dhochak finished runner-up in the 76kg division while Tanu Sharma claimed bronze in the 72kg event.
Meanwhile, India’s men endured a difficult day in freestyle wrestling.
Nikhil produced a spirited fightback in the men’s 61kg category against Islamic Republic of Iran’s world silver medallist Ahmad Masoud Mohammadnezhadjavan. The Indian recovered from 0-8 down to lead 9-8 before eventually losing 9-10 in the pre-quarter-finals.
Pushpender Dalal won his opening two bouts in the men’s 86kg division before losing 7-2 to Azerbaijan’s Arsenii Dzhioev.
Jaspooran Singh beat Romania’s Omar Sarem 8-4 in the men’s 125kg qualification round but went down 11-0 by technical superiority to Iran’s two-time Olympic medallist Amir Hossein Zare.
Vishal Kaliraman exited the men’s 70kg competition following a 7-2 defeat to Turkiye’s Ferhat Kilic.
Vicky Hooda’s medal hopes also ended after he lost his men’s 97kg repechage bout 10-0 by technical superiority to Iran’s Hassan Yazdani.
Source: www.olympics.com
