Antim Panghal, as the meaning of her name goes, was the last or final of the four sisters to be born to Niwas Panghal and Krishna Kumari in Bhagana village of Hisar district in Haryana. Antim, however, was fourth of the five siblings with her brother Arpit being the youngest one to be born to their parents.
Antim's eldest sister Sarita, a national-level kabaddi player no less, had a big role to play in her getting ino wrestling when at the age of 10 she took her to a wrestling programme at the Mahavir Stadium and as they say the rest is history. Her father had apprehensions earlier on about Antim pursuing wrestling but gave into his daughter's wishes and passion for the sport.
Niwas Panghal then did everything that a father in his capacity can to fulfill his daughter's dreams - from taking her to Mahavir Stadium daily, a 20km commute, to building a house with a dedicated cattle shed and provide the best for her and there her journey began. Since then, it's been no looking back for Antim since then.
And it didn't take long for Antim to start accumulating the medals. The first one came in 2018 when she became the Under-15 champion. A bronze at Under-15 Asian Championship followed before quickly at the age of 17 she became the junior Asian champion and won a silver at Under-23 Asian Championship.
But it was only 2022 when the world went 'Now we are talking' as far as Antim was concerned. After almost denying Vinesh Phogat in the same 53kg weight category at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games, Antim challenged her compatriot for the title before the veteran won on criteria with both of them tied 3-3. That heartbreak catapulted Antim into a medal-winning machine.
A first senio Gold medal at 2022 Zouhaier Sghaier Ranking Series in July followed. After which she won the historic Gold medal at the U-20 World Wrestling Championship, a first for India in the history of the competition. She defended her title a year later to become the only two-time junior world champion.
A silver at the Asian Championship at Astana in April 2023, followed by a bronze medal at the Asian Games in Hangzhou and the bronze at the World Championships in Belgrade later on, Panghal just continued on her miraculous run and she is just 22. Panghal missed out on participating in the World Championships in 2022 because of Vinesh and after beating the defending champion Dominic Parrish, it seemed like she was on her way.
However, she suffered a heartbreak in the semis losing to Vanesa Kaladzinskaya of Belarus. But Antim ensured that she was winning her Bronze medal bout and confirming her Paris Olympics spot, probably the biggest stage of her young career so far.
Every wrestling expert who has made a prediction of number of medals from the six-member contingent for India has had Antim's name in their list and they are not wrong. With the career she has had in just few years of her existence as a professional wrestler, Antim has already made the world watch and take notice. A performance to remember for at Paris just might be the icing on the cake.
Antim Panghal's career achievements and highlights so far
- Under-20 World Wrestling Championships - Gold (2022, 2023)
- World Championships - Bronze (2023)
- Asian Championships - Bronze (2023)
- Asian Games - Bronze (2023)
- First Indian woman to become U-20 world champion in wrestling
- UWW Rising Star of the Year 2023
