Pictures BS News Agency.
BS News Agency: Indian woman wrestler Manisha Bhanwala created history. She became the first Indian woman wrestler to win gold in the 59 kg category at the World Wrestling Championship. In Astana, Kazakhstan, the 29-year-old Manisha surprisingly came back from a 6-point deficit to Pan American champion Abigail Nett in her fight and won 8-6 points.
The only success in the disappointing performance of Indian wrestlers at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games was the silver win of Indian woman wrestler Antim Panghal in the 53 kg category. Manisha herself participated in the 57 kg category at the Asian Games and lost to Japan's Akari Fujinami in the quarterfinals. This time, Manisha decided to fight in the 59 kg category at the World Championship in Astana. Which brought her gold. On her way to the final, she defeated Lawrence Burogard, Mongolia's Bolortua Khurelkhu, and Kazakhstan's Altyn Shagaeva.
Although the 59 kg category is not included in the Olympics, Manisha's achievement cannot be underestimated. Because no senior women have won a gold medal in the World Championships in any weight category before. Like Manisha, two other women wrestlers Neelam Shirohi (50 kg) and Kajal Dhochak (76 kg) had reached the final of the Olympic weight category. However, both had to settle for silver.
Earlier, Anshu Malik was the only Indian woman to reach the final of the 57 kg category at the 2021 World Wrestling Championships and won silver. Vinesh Phogat and Antim Panghal have won bronze twice at the World Wrestling Championships. In the men's freestyle wrestling category, two-time Olympic medalist Sushil Kumar became the world champion in the 66 kg category at the 2010 Moscow World Championships. Bajrang Punia won silver at the 2018 World Championships in Budapest.
Manisha's path to success was not smooth at all. She is the daughter of a farmer from Jind village in Haryana. Sports run in the family. Manisha's brother Rinku is a kabaddi player. His brother's wife Mamata Sihag is also a wrestler. Manisha got attracted to sports after seeing her brother playing kabaddi in the village field. Manisha's brother Rinku told the news agency, "Everyone in the family is involved in some kind of sport. Manisha used to watch me play kabaddi. We decided to prepare Manisha for individual events, not team games. Manisha has been very strong physically and mentally since childhood. That is her main strength."
However, there is a hidden pain behind Manisha's success in winning this gold. On the day Manisha was leaving for Mongolia to participate in the Asian Championship, her father died in the morning. The night before, Manisha's father was present at a local 'wake-up' event. Later, he came home and went to bed. But that sleep did not break her. He suffered a heart attack in his sleep and passed away. Manisha was her father's very beloved daughter. She was so devastated by her father's death that she wanted to cancel her plan to go to the Asian Championship in Mongolia. Not only that, she wanted to quit wrestling due to the grief of losing her father. But brother Rinku and all the family members convinced Manisha that if she did not go to Mongolia, her father's soul, who had raised her with the dream of seeing her as a champion, would not find peace. Rather, she should continue wrestling thinking of her father and become a champion to uphold his father's honor. Manisha boarded the plane to Mongolia that day with tears in her eyes and a heavy heart. She returned home after winning bronze in that tournament. After that, Manisha won three Asian Championship medals, including the gold medal she won last time.
Before going to Asthana to participate in the World Championship, Manisha made a white T-shirt. It has pictures of all the family members. The picture of her late father is also included in it along with others from the family. This was Manisha's biggest motivation in the World Championship. She had also said that after winning gold, she would wear this T-shirt to show everyone how much her family contributed to her success. And that is what Manisha did by winning gold. Everyone in the family wanted Manisha to win gold. Manisha especially fulfilled her late father's dream. Remembering her father, Manisha showed the T-shirt in front of everyone after winning gold. Her daughter's success from the country she never returned to may be spreading a smile on her face, a sense of satisfaction, peace of mind and blessings for Manisha. Indians can hope that this will bring Manisha medals on other big stages in the future.