Anshu Malik
India will have to wait for their first women’s world champion in wrestling as Anshu Malik settled for a silver medal after losing the 57kg final to 2016 Olympic champion Helen Lucy Maroulis, but Sarita Mor took the big step by winning the 59kg bronze. Won first medal. Here on Thursday.
Coming into the match to become India’s first female finalist at the World Championship, 19-year-old Anshu started off aggressively with positive intent but eventually lost the summit clash after being pinned.
Sushil Kumar (2010) is India’s lone world champion wrestler till date.
Anshu took a breathless 1-0 lead but in the second half the bout turned into a dramatic fashion. Maroulis caught Anshu in the grip of his arm and pulled him down to complete the take-down move to take a 2-1 lead.
She held onto Anshu’s right hand tightly and kept swirling to get the ‘exposure’ point, making it 4-1.
Defending Asian champion Anshu was in terrible pain, but the American didn’t lose his grip and kept Anshu’s back on the mat to win from the fall.
Anshu needed medical help soon after the match as she was almost crying.
Nevertheless, it was a heroic performance from a nidani wrestler, becoming the only fifth Indian woman to win a world medal and the best ever.
Geeta Phogat (2012), Babita Phogat (2012), Pooja Dhanda (2018) and Vinesh Phogat (2019) have won bronze medals.
Sarita ended her world medal drought with an 8-2 win over Sweden’s Sarah Johanna Lindborg in the bronze play-off.
Indian women are now at their best in the world as winning two bronze in 2012 through the Phogat sisters was the country’s best.
Sarita stunned the Swede with an early four-pointer and added two more points with a quick take-down.
The defending Asian champions took a 6-0 lead from the break and made another breathtaking move in the race for an 8-0 lead.
Sarita accepted a take-down late in the bout but had enough lead to be the winner. It was his sixth attempt to win a medal at the worlds, failing to do so at one under-23 and four at the senior worlds.
Meanwhile, Divya Kakran (72kg) lost her repechage round to Mongolia’s Davanasan Enkh Amar in the morning session and expect a disappointing performance from Greco-Roman wrestlers.
Sandeep (55kg), Vikas (72kg), Sajan (77kg) and Harpreet Singh (82kg) bowed out of the competition. Only Sajan managed to win one bout while the other three lost their respective openers.
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