/
Manisha Bhanwala into 59kg final at World Wrestling Championships after 10-0 semi-final win over Shagayeva
Manisha Bhanwala reached the women's 59kg freestyle final at the World Wrestling Championships in Astana, beating Mongolia's Bolortuya Khurelkhuu 6-0 and Kazakhstan's Altyn Shagayeva 10-0 on Thursday. The final is on Friday evening, assuring India of at least a silver.
A
4 min
India's Manisha Bhanwala has reached the final of the women's 59 kg freestyle at the World Wrestling Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan. On Thursday, 29 October, she beat Mongolia's Bolortuya Khurelkhuu 6-0 in the quarter-final and Kazakhstan's Altyn Shagayeva 10-0 in the semi-final. The 59 kg final is scheduled for Friday, 30 October, in the evening session, and reaching it means that she is guaranteed at least a silver medal.
The two bouts
Both results are from the score pages of the championships. She did not concede a point in either bout. A margin of 10 points in freestyle wrestling ends a bout by technical superiority, so the semi-final was decided before the full time was played. Shagayeva was wrestling in front of her home crowd. The pages do not give the details of how the points were scored, and they list the semi-final as having been scheduled at 17:12 local time.
| Round | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Quarter-final | Bolortuya Khurelkhuu (Mongolia) | Bhanwala won 6-0 |
| Semi-final | Altyn Shagayeva (Kazakhstan) | Bhanwala won 10-0 |
| Final | To be decided | Friday, 30 October |
The pages do not name her opponent in the final or give the result of her earlier rounds. A preview page also lists a bout against Laurence Beauregard.
In freestyle wrestling, a bout is wrestled in two periods of three minutes, and points are scored for takedowns, exposures and other moves. A wrestler who leads by 10 points wins by technical superiority and the bout stops, which is how the semi-final ended. Both of Manisha's bouts on Thursday were won without conceding a point.
The championships
The World Wrestling Championships are being held at the Barys Arena in Astana from 24 October to 1 November. There are 30 weight categories, 10 each in men's freestyle, women's freestyle and Greco-Roman, and India has entered one wrestler in each. Matches start at 11 am Indian time, and they are streamed on UWW+, the official platform of United World Wrestling.
The finals are spread over the days of the event.
| Date | Finals |
|---|---|
| 28 October | Women's freestyle 50, 57, 65 and 76 kg |
| 29 October | Women's freestyle 53, 62, 68 and 72 kg |
| 30 October | Women's freestyle 55 and 59 kg; men's freestyle 65 and 97 kg |
| 31 October | Men's freestyle 61, 70, 86 and 125 kg |
| 1 November | Men's freestyle 57, 74, 79 and 92 kg |
India's squad
India's women's freestyle squad is Neelam (50 kg), Nishu (53 kg), Ahilya S. Shinde (55 kg), Neha Sharma (57 kg), Manisha Bhanwala (59 kg), Neha (62 kg), Rajnita (65 kg), Srishti (68 kg), Tanu Sharma (72 kg) and Kajal (76 kg). Several leading names are missing. Aman Sehrawat withdrew with shoulder and ankle injuries and was replaced by Rahul at 57 kg in men's freestyle. Antim Panghal is not in the squad, and Nishu replaces her at 53 kg. Deepak Punia also withdrew with a shoulder injury.
Manisha is described in a preview as a former Asian champion with international experience and one of the key names in the women's team. She is one of five wrestlers from India's Asian Games contingent who were chosen for the world event.
Sujeet Kalkal, the Asian Games gold medallist, wrestles at 65 kg, and his qualification rounds and semi-finals were on Thursday, with the medal bouts on Friday. His main rival is Iran's Rahman Amouzad, the reigning world champion, who beat him 6-5 in the quarter-finals of the 2025 world championships. In Greco-Roman, Nitesh Siwach (97 kg) and Sunil Kumar (87 kg), both Asian Games medallists, were among India's medal hopes.
Matches at the championships start at 11 am Indian time, and the finals are held in the evening session. The final decides the gold and the silver medals, while the bronze medals are decided in separate bouts between the wrestlers who lost to the finalists. Manisha's place in the final therefore assures India of a medal in the weight class.
The final is the next test. A win would give Manisha a world title, and a loss a silver, and either would be among India's best results at the championships. The reports do not give her opponent or the time of the bout. Indian viewers can follow it on UWW+ from the evening session.
A
4 min
What did you think?
