Wrestler Priya becomes second Indian U20 World Champion | More sports News

NEW DELHI: Priya became only the second Indian woman wrestler to win the U20 World Championships, while fast-rising Antim Panghal also stormed into the title match as India had unprecedented success at the Junior World Championships on Thursday.

Unaffected by the gash above her left eye, Priya easily defeated Germany’s Laura Celive Kuehn 5-0 in the gold medal match, which had to be stopped twice owing to bleeding from the Indian.
Her lightning-fast leg assaults frightened the German, who was unable to make a single point-scoring move.

Panghal became the first Indian woman to win the junior world title last year, and she celebrated triumph again on Thursday, reaching the 53kg final and one win away from defending her crown.
Panghal, who made headlines by challenging Vinesh Phogat to the Asian Games trials but was denied, put on a dominant performance to win her three bouts with ease.
For the first time, four Indian female wrestlers reached the junior World Championships gold medal round, as Savita (62kg) and Antim Kundu (65kg) both remained unbeaten on Thursday.
Harshita is also vying for bronze in the 72kg category.
Priya had advanced to the 76kg final on Wednesday and performed admirably.
Panghal lost only two points on her way to the final, annihilating her first round opponent from Poland, Nikola Monika Wisniewska, in 68 seconds and then defeating China’s Xuejing Liang by technical superiority.
In the semifinals, the wrestler from Haryana’s Hisar district defeated Russia’s Polina Lukina, winning by technical superiority and not dropping a single point.
Panghal will become the first woman wrestler to win two world titles if she wins on Friday.
In the 65kg competition, another Antim was setting fire to the mat. She was Antim Kundu from Titoli village in Rohtak District, and she, too, put up a dominant performance to earn a spot in the gold medal match.
She defeated Russia’s Ekaterina Koshkina in the semifinals, 7-5, by using her enormous power.
Kuldeep Kadian’s wrestler had previously defeated Romania’s Maria Magdalena Pantiru 7-2 and pinned Poland’s Alicja Nowosad.
In the 62kg weight class, U17 World Champion Savita was impressive, winning all three bouts ‘by fall’, including one against the formidable Japanese Suzu Sasaki. She had begun with a straightforward victory over Serbia’s Dunja Lukic.
She pinned French opponent Iris Mathilde Thiebaux in the semifinals.
Harshita made it to the 72kg semifinals as well, but was pinned by Turkey’s Bukrenaz Sert and will now compete for bronze.
Reena was the only Indian wrestler who suffered an early defeat. She was competing in the 57kg weight class and lost her first round to Ukraine’s Alina Filipovych.
As Alina has advanced to the final, Reena will have a chance to advance to the medal round via repechage.
(With inputs from PTI)