🏑 Sports
Manisha Bhanwala reaches world wrestling final; Tanu Sharma wins bronze
In 60 seconds: Manisha Bhanwala reached the women's 59kg final at the World Wrestling Championships in Astana on Thursday, assuring India at least a silver medal. She will face USA's Abigail Elizabeth Nette for gold. Tanu Sharma won bronze in the 72kg category, beating USA's Precious Rosanna Bell 9-5. Manisha is the third Indian woman to reach a final at this edition, after silver medallists Neelam Sirohi and Kajal Dhochak.
Why it matters
No Indian woman has ever won a senior world wrestling title. With three women in finals this year, Indian women's wrestling is having one of its best World Championships.
Explain it simply
Reaching a world final is like getting your chai to the boil: the hard work is done, but one last minute decides whether it is perfect.
The 3-minute read
What happened
Manisha beat Canada's Laurence Beauregard 6-2 in the pre-quarterfinals on her way to the final. Tanu Sharma won her bronze-medal play-off 9-5 against Bell, the Pan American champion.
Background
Before Manisha's semi-final win, India had three medals at these championships: silvers for Neelam Sirohi and Kajal Dhochak and Tanu's bronze.
How it works
In wrestling, wrestlers who lose to a finalist enter the repechage, which gives them a route to bronze. Men's 97kg wrestler Vicky Hooda is still in contention this way.
What's next
Manisha's gold medal bout against Abigail Elizabeth Nette is on Friday, 30 October.
What it means for you
Most of India's medals here came from women wrestlers, a sign of how far women's wrestling has grown in the country.
Key numbers
- 59kg: Manisha's weight category
- 9-5: Tanu Sharma's bronze-medal win
- 3: Indian women in finals at this edition
Both sides
- Fans: Three women in world finals show Indian women's wrestling is ready to produce a world champion.
- Cautious observers: Indian women have reached finals before but not yet won one; converting finals into gold remains the challenge.
Key terms explained
- World Wrestling Championships
- The top annual event of world wrestling, run by United World Wrestling, outside the Olympics.
- Bronze medal
- The medal for third place; in wrestling two bronzes are given in each weight category.
The story so far
- Sep 2010: Sushil Kumar wins 66kg freestyle gold in Moscow, India's first senior world wrestling title. Sushil Kumar won the 66kg freestyle title at the 2010 World Championships in Moscow. He remains India's only senior world champion in wrestling.
- Oct 2021: Anshu Malik becomes the first Indian woman to reach a world final, winning silver in Oslo. At the 2021 World Championships in Oslo, Anshu Malik reached the 57kg final and won silver, a first for an Indian woman.
- 28 Oct 2026: Neelam Sirohi and Kajal Dhochak win silver at the 2026 Worlds in Astana. Neelam Sirohi and Kajal Dhochak both reached their finals in Astana but lost, finishing with silver medals.
- Today: Manisha Bhanwala reaches 59kg world final; Tanu Sharma wins 72kg bronze
Exam notes (UPSC, SSC, Banking, PSC)
- United World Wrestling (UWW) is the world governing body for wrestling; the Wrestling Federation of India runs the sport in India.
- Women compete only in freestyle wrestling at the World Championships and the Olympics; men compete in both freestyle and Greco-Roman.
- Sushil Kumar (66kg, Moscow 2010) is India's only senior world wrestling champion.
- Astana is the capital of Kazakhstan.
Likely exam question: Who is India's only senior world champion in wrestling, and in which year did he win the title?