Antim Panghal, Manika Batra and Ayhika Mukherjee landed at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi on Friday, August 9 after the end of their respective campaigns at the Paris Olympics. All the athletes were received warmly by members of the Sports Authority of India who were present at the venue.
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Antim had a forgettable outing at the Paris Olympics after she suffered a heartbreaking first-round exit in the 53 kg weight category. Antim was pitted against Zeynep Yetgil of Türkiye and since the Turkish wrestler had prior experience of performing more at major events, Antim struggled to crack the winning formula.
The contest began with the Turkish grappler earning two points with the help of a takedown and then flipped the 19-year-old over to race to a 4-0 lead in the opening minute. Yetgil's agility stunned Antim and before she could regather herself, the Turkish wrestler picked up six more points to kill the competition and won within the first 90 seconds on the basis of technical superiority.
On the other hand, Manika had a memorable campaign at the Paris Olympics after she became the first Indian to book a berth in the pre-quarterfinals at the Summer Games following her convincing 4-0 over world No. 18 and home favourite Prithika Pavade. However, she couldn't go beyond the round of 16 and lost 4-1 to a higher-ranked Japanese player Miu Hirano.
Manika also played a significant role in propelling the Indian women's team into the quarterfinals at the Paris Olympics. The Indian women's team comprising Manika, Sreeja Akula and Archana Kamath lost 3-1 to the Rio Olympics 2016 silver medallists Germany.
Archana was the only paddler to win a match for India in the quarterfinals. Notably, Sreeja had also followed Manika's footsteps and registered a berth in the round of 16 before bowing out eventually.
