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Indian wrestler Antim Panghal was named the Rising Star of the Year among women by the United World Wrestling (UWW), the sport's world governing body on Wednesday.
The 19-year-old Indian competing in the 53 kg category, has had a stellar season, replete with accomplishments and accolades, and has overshadowed senior star Vinesh Phogat, who also competes in the same weight category, according to Olympics.com. Panghal started off the season with a silver in the Asian Championships, beating Japan's Akari Fujimani, who is yet to lose a senior match in her career. Antim is also the current U20 world champion, having defended her title in Jordan this August. Hailing from Haryana, she is the only two-time junior world champion for India. She made her senior world wrestling championships debut at Belgrade, Serbia in September this year and made an immediate impact by securing the bronze medal by defeating Sweden's two-time European champion Jonna Malmgren. Antim also managed to secure the Paris 2024 Olympic quota for India in the women's 53 kg category with this win. A month later at Hangzhou during the Asian Games, Antim won the bronze medal beating Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist Bat-Ochir Bolortuya of Mongolia in the medal match. Greece's Georgios Kougioumtsidis also won the Rising Star of the Year award in the men's freestyle category while Azerbaijan's Hasrat Jafarov took the honours in the Greco-Roman category. (ANI)
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