Antim Panghal wins World Championships trials, Sarita Mor bounces back

Antim Panghal continued her fine run while Sarita Mor and Divya Kakran bounced back from the Asian Games trial disappointment to book their berth for the upcoming Wrestling World Championships in Belgrade from September 16.

Coming on the back of her second U20 world title, Antim won the field of four wrestlers including Manju, Pooja, and Rajni to secure her berth for the World Championships.

Earlier in July, Antim also won the trials for the 2022 Asian Games but she was kept on standby as Vinesh Phogat was awarded the direct berth. Although Vinesh suffered a knee injury and pulled out of the Asiads.

On Friday, Antim was cleared by the Sports Ministry to become a part of the upcoming Asian Games.

World Championships bronze medalist Sarita Mor bounced back from the disappointment of losing in the Asian Games trials and won the trials to secure her place in the team in 57 kg.

Another wrestler who bounced back from Asian Games disappointment was Divya Kakran who defeated Kiran in the finals to book her ticket for Belgrade in the 76 kg category.

Youngster Antim Kundu, who is coming fresh from the silver medal at the U20 World Championships in Amman, also booked her place for the Belgrade event in the 65kg category, topping the group that had Sarika, Monika, and Ravita.

The trials for selecting the freestyle team in all weight categories will be held on Saturday.

Wrestlers can't represent India

With the Wrestling Federation of India suspended by United World Wrestling, it remains to be seen whether the selected wrestlers will be able to represent India or will have to compete under the banner of UWW as neutral athletes.

UWW suspended the WFI for not conducting its elections on time, a development that will not allow Indian grapplers to compete at the World Championships under the Indian flag.

Selection trial results:

Greco-Roman Style: 55kg Ajay (Del); 60kg Manish (RSPB); 63kg: Vikram (Mah); 67kg Vinayak (Mah); 72kg: Ankit Gulia (SSCB); 77kg: Gurpreet Singh (PB); 82kg: Sajan (RSPB); 87kg: Manoj Kumar (Har); 97kg: Sailesh (Mah); 130kg: Mehar Singh (SSCB).

Women's wrestling: 50kg: Neelam (UP); 53kg Antim (Har); 55kg: Neha (Del); 57kg: Sarita (RSPB); 59kg: Anjali (Har); 62kg: Manisha (Har); 65kg: Antim (Har); 68kg: Priyanka (Har); 72kg: Jyoti Berwal (Har); 76kg: Divya Kakran (UP).