Manisha Bhanwala doesn’t have an expressive personality but the 29-year-old from Jind, Haryana, transforms when she takes the mat.
At the World Wrestling Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan, Manisha’s win over Altyn Shagayeva in the women’s 59 kg semi-final eased the disappointment of Asian Games champion Sujeet Kalkal’s loss in the men’s 65 kg quarterfinals.
Manisha pinned the home favourite to become the third Indian woman wrestler to reach the title bout in the current edition and confirmed the fourth medal for India after Tanu Sharma won bronze in the 72 kg category.
After competing at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games in the 57 kg category and losing to Japanese legend Akari Fujinami, Manisha was totally focused on the World Championships.
“We knew there was not much time after the Asian Games. Hence, Manisha decided to compete in the 59 kg. After she landed in India without a medal, she came to the academy immediately and start training,” Mandeep Singh, who trains Manisha at the Chhotu Ram Akhada in Rohtak, told The Indian Express on Thursday.
Manisha was in a good position against Fujinami in the Asian Games bout but lost 3-0. Mandeep said they worked on her holding till the last minute.
“Her bout against Fujinami was not one-sided. It was a close one and I think she took the loss to heart. We started working on her endurance in whatever time we had and also focused on getting early points,” the coach explained.
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Earlier, Manisha beat Canada’s Laurence Beauregard by fall before registering a comfortable 6-0 victory over Mongolia’s Bolortuya Khurelkhuu in the quarterfinals.
Manisha, who has been a consistent medallist at the Asian level, now has a shot at becoming India’s first-ever women’s world champion when she takes on reigning Pan-American champion, USA’s Abigail Elizabeth Nette.
“This achievement is a result of her hard work. She has four Asian medals, including gold, and we were hopeful of an Asian Games medal. But hard work pays off somewhere and tomorrow she has a good chance of becoming India’s first-ever World Champion,” said Mandeep.
It might be third time lucky for India on Friday after Kajal Dhochak (76 kg) and Neelam Sirohi (50 kg) lost their finals on Wednesday.
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Sujeet loses to Kudiev
It was a disappointing morning for Indian wrestling when Sujeet Kalkal, a favourite for a gold medal, lost to Tajikistan’s Abdulmazhid Kudiev in the 65 kg quarterfinals. Sujeet, who had defeated Kudiev at the recent Asian Games, stayed passive after taking a 3-1 lead, and his takedown effort in the last minute was reversed by Kudiev to make it 3-3 after a challenge.
The Indian’s attempt to score a takedown in the last 30 seconds didn’t succeed as Kudiev took revenge for the Asian Games final loss by winning on account of scoring the last point.
In the men’s 97 kg, Vicky Hooda got into repechage after Arash Yoshida of Japan reached the final. Vicky will face Iranian legend Hassan Yazadani on Friday.
