Wrestling World C'ships: Sujeet returns empty handed; Manisha in final, bronze for Tanu

Manisha ended the day with a commanding semifinal performance against Kazakhstan's Altyn Shagayeva, taking a 10-0 lead before pinning her opponent to set up a gold medal clash against Pan American champion Abigail Elizabeth Nette.

A day after Neelam Sirohi (50kg) and Kajal Dhochak (76kg) settled for silver medals, Manisha became the third Indian wrestler to reach the gold medal bout at the ongoing edition, giving the country another opportunity to end its wait for a world champion.

Manisha opted to compete in the non-Olympic 59kg category, even though she had competed in the 57kg and 62kg categories in the past, and the ploy worked.

The seasoned Indian maintained tight control over the semifinal, leading 3-0 at the end of the first period. Her strong defence frustrated Shagayeva, who could not launch a single attack against the Indian.

The decisive move came in the second period.

From an arm-locked position, Manisha turned and threw the Kazakh wrestler onto the mat for a four-point move before holding her in an iron grip to secure the fall. The score stood at 10-0 when the bout ended.

Earlier, Manisha had beaten Canada's Laurence Beauregard by fall before registering a comfortable 6-0 victory over Mongolia's Bolortuya Khurelkhuu in the quarterfinals.

For Manisha, the result is the culmination of years of hard work following the disappointment of the Asian Games, where she had expected to win gold but returned without a medal.

"I was sure to win Asian Games but, as luck would have it, I lost to a rival despite wrestling well, and unfortunately, she also lost, so I returned empty-handed. I reached Rohtak on Monday morning and began training from that day itself to prepare for the World Championships," Manisha said.

"I had a very bad feeling after losing at the Asian Games. I had given trials in 59kg for the Worlds while I competed in 57kg at the Asian Games. This was because I was sure that I would win Asian Games gold and there would be felicitation functions due to which I wouldn't have much time to keep preparing for 57kg," she said.

Such was her confidence.

Manisha, however, said she would not allow the pressure of a potential world title to affect her approach in the final.

"I am not taking pressure of winning tomorrow. I will give my best as I always do. Wrestling is everything for me. I have not been to attend any family function; I don't know what happens at my home during festivals. I just think about wrestling all the time.

"Years of hard work, blessings of my family and coaches have given me this result. We will try to make it better tomorrow," she added.

Manisha won the Asian Championships title last year after claiming bronze medals in three previous editions of the continental competition. She trains under coach Mandeep Singh at the Sir Chhotu Ram Akhara in Rohtak.

Meanwhile, Tanu secured a podium finish in the women's 72kg category, beating USA's Precious Rosanna Bell 9-5 in the bronze medal bout.

Sujeet's World Championships jinx continues

Sujeet's campaign ended in heartbreak as his remarkable one-year winning streak came to an end with a 3-3 criteria defeat to Tajikistan's Abdulmazhid Kudiev in the men's 65kg quarterfinals.

Sujeet, who had won seven titles over the past year, including the U23 World Championships, the 2026 Asian Championships and the Asian Games, suffered his first defeat since losing in the repechage round of last year's World Championships in Zagreb.

His 24-match unbeaten run also came to an end.

The defeat was particularly painful because Kudiev was the same opponent Sujeet had beaten in the Asian Games final, where the Indian had recovered from a 2-9 deficit to score eight consecutive points and clinch gold.

There was no repeat of that comeback on Thursday as Kudiev turned the tables in a dramatic finish.

Sujeet conceded the opening point for passivity but took a 2-1 lead with a takedown just five seconds before the end of the first period. Kudiev was subsequently penalised for passivity, allowing the Indian to extend his lead to 3-1.

The bout took a dramatic turn in the final 30 seconds. Near the edge of the mat, Sujeet attempted a takedown but failed to put Kudiev in a dangerous position, allowing the Tajik wrestler to counter with a takedown of his own.

The mat referee did not award Sujeet two points for his attempt, but the chair umpire initially granted them. Kudiev's corner challenged the decision and won, with Sujeet's two points cancelled and the Tajik awarded two points for his takedown. The score became 3-3.

Needing a decisive move in the dying seconds, Sujeet could not find a way past Kudiev, who prevailed on criteria by virtue of scoring the last point.

Before the quarterfinal, Sujeet had begun with a commanding 12-1 technical superiority win over Switzerland's Nino Leutert and followed it up with a 4-0 victory over Belarus' Islam Guseinov.

In other results, Srishti was eliminated after losing her women's 68kg repechage bout to American Kennedy Blades.

In the women's 55kg category, Ahilya Shinde beat Cuba's Yaynelis Sanz Verdecia 8-1 but squandered a 3-0 lead to lose 6-9 to Turkey's Tuba Demir and was eliminated.

In the men's 97kg, Vicky reached the quarterfinals with wins over Sarco Colmenarez (8-2) and Radu Letter (10-0) before losing by technical superiority (2-12) to Japan's Arash Yoshida.

He is still alive through repechage route.