Antim Panghal, Vaishnavi, and Manisha seal birth

New Delhi: Easily the most successful wrestler among the contenders at the World Championship trials, Antim Panghal sealed her berth in the Indian team

without much fuss in the women’s 53kg weight class while Vaishnavi Patil (65kg) and Manisha Bhanwala (62kg) also qualified with impressive show, here Sunday. All of 20 and already a medal winner at the senior Worlds, Asian Games and the Asian Championships, Antim outplayed Madhya Pradesh’s Pooja and Gujarat’s Hinaben without conceding a point to emerge winner.

She had made headlines by becoming the country’s first U20 World champion in 2022 and also qualified for the 2024 Paris Games but she returned from the Olympics surrounded in controversy.

She not only faded on the mat in Paris, but also courted a major controversy by sending her sister to the Games Village on her accreditation card.

The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) contemplated disciplinary action but stopped short. Recently, she wanted to train abroad with her personal coach but WFI shot down the proposal and asked her to train at the national camp.

Asked about the tough time she endured after the Paris Olympics, Antim admitted making “mistakes” but insisted it was solely due to lack of awareness rather than some mischief on her part.

“The federation did not have any issue with me. There was confusion, I also made mistake. I did not realise that it was getting out of hand. Olympics is different from Asian Games and World Championships. I did not know much. “There was a Games village, which was also there at the Asian Games but we had stayed at a hotel in the Asian Games (Hangzhou), there was confusion, I had never experienced such an environment. There was pressure and I spoilt my bouts due to that,” she said.