One of the darkest days of Indian wrestling: Antim Panghal

Bengaluru: In the space of less than 24 hours, Indian wrestling has seen everything possible at the Paris Olympics, from losing a sure shot medal to an Indian wrestler embroiled in a disciplinary fiasco.

As the news of Vinesh Phogat's disqualification began spreading like wildfire, Antim Panghal, preparing for her bout, was perturbed.

"I heard about Vinesh Didi's news before my bout, got sad hearing that. She is an inspiration for all. She deserved that gold medal today," said Antim Panghal from Paris, in a video call with the The Bridge late on Wednesday night.

Antim mirrored the somber mood that lingered through the day over the news of Vinesh's disqualification.

"Today was not a good day for Indian wrestling. It was like one of the darkest days of Indian wrestling. I will make a strong comeback after this," she further added.

The news of Vinesh Phogat broke around noon and nothing was the same for the Indian contingent thereafter.

After Vinesh's bout, Antim Panghal shockingly lost in the 53kg category against Turkish wrestler Zeynep Yetgil in the first round. Her chances for repechage were dashed when the Turkish wrestler lost in the next round.

Talking about her maiden Olympic bout, Antim said, "I don't think I had thought that someone would turn up like a brilliant match against me. I think it was the Olympic debut jitters for me."

"I had my lessons from this trip to Paris and I would like to take my learnings and make a stronger comeback," Antim concluded.

Within hours, the Indian wrestling fans went from happy to sad with first Vinesh being disqualified from the gold medal match of the 50kg category and then Antim losing to the Turkish wrestler in the first round.

Late on Wednesday night, a new controversy surfaced hours after the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) decided to fly back Antim Panghal and her supporting staff. Upon receiving an escalation from the local authorities over a disciplinary breach, the IOA asked Antim and her entourage to leave France and head back to India.

However, the wrestler refused to comment on the disciplinary issue but she and her team will be returning from Paris to India.

U20 World Champion Antim had a brilliant route to the 2024 Paris Olympics and booked the quota for the 2024 Paris Olympics by winning the bronze medal at the 2023 World Championships.

Antim would continue her good form and go on to win a bronze medal at the 2023 Asian Games on her debut.

However, on the way to the 2024 Paris Olympics, Antim was reportedly struggling with her body and played few tournaments which kept her away from vital match practice.

While what happened to Antim can be termed as debut Olympic jitters and Vinesh's incident could well have played a role on her mind, questions over her performance will be asked.