In 13 months, how Antim Panghal turned a corner to clinch bronze at World Championship

Thirteen months later, the wrestler will fly home from another major championship. This time, with a medal around her neck and, her father Ramniwas hopes, a warmer welcome. “Iss baar mein khud jaoonga beti ka swagat karne (I’ll myself go to welcome my daughter),” he says.

Antim, on Thursday, became only the second Indian woman, after Vinesh Phogat, to win two World Championship medals, defeating two-time European champion Jonna Malmgren of Sweden 9-1 to win the bronze in the 53kg category. Incidentally, Vinesh had beaten the same opponent three years ago for her second World Championship medal.

It’s an elite, exclusive club comprising – ironically – the two wrestlers who were pitted against each other for one spot ahead of the 2023 Asian Games. “She did what she could; I am doing what I can. Both of us have worked very hard,” Antim, who had won a bronze in the 2023 edition as well, says. “Vinesh ji… I admire her courage. It’s very tough to struggle so much. She cut her weight to 50kg, then fought…”

Antim’s medal also ensured India’s first medal at these World Championships in Zagreb. She also made sure the country’s medal streak at the Worlds – Indian wrestlers have won at least one medal at the championship since 2018 – continued.

This isn’t Paris redemption for Antim. But it’s a medal that underlines the 21-year-old’s status as one of India’s foremost wrestlers across categories; a medal, which her coaches say, shows that the Olympics were ‘just an aberration’.

“For us, for her, this medal will rank high compared to the one in 2023,” Antim’s coach Siyanand Dahiya says. “She has endured some really hard days to reach this level once again.”

Antim says she remembers that August day, when the media scrum chased her, vividly – and sombrely. The disappointment turned into lingering sadness and Antim says she ‘thought of quitting the sport’. Scared of facing people, she did not even go home from the airport. “I went to my mama’s place and stayed there for five days away from everyone,” she says.

When she finally returned home, Antim locked herself in a room. “She didn’t step out of that tiny room for a week,” Ramniwas says. “We had to talk her out of that zone. We reminded her that this wasn’t the end of the world for her.”

Antim adds: “Yeh bhi hua ki chod de (I also felt like quitting). It had become that kind of a situation. But my family and my coach told me that it was just one bout. ‘You are still young, you will get another shot at the Olympics.’”

The way she is wrestling now – on the attack all the time – Antim hasn’t shown signs of any residual disappointment from last year. When Ramniwas spoke to her on Wednesday after she lost in the semifinals, Antim was ‘sad’. She’d landed in Zagreb hoping to win a gold medal. But she did not brood much. “I told myself, ‘Let’s win the bronze at least.’”

It’s a sign of a maturing wrestler. A year ago, emotions would have gotten the better of Antim. This time, she was better prepared to handle different situations. Emotionally and technically.

Her bout against Malmgren – a wrestler who had defeated the Indian last year at the Ranking Series – was as clean as they come. The Swede was so preoccupied with defending that she could not launch an attack of her own. She was penalised for the passivity, which gave Antim the first point. She built on that slender lead with some slick leg attacks, the speed and relentlessness of which gave Malmgren no chance. In the rare moments when Malmgren would get hold of Antim’s ankle, the Indian would snake out of it comfortably and protect her lead.

“I analysed every bout I have had with her,” Antim says. “Earlier, I did not have so much gyaan (knowledge). Now, I understand the importance of these things. I was determined to return with a medal.” And she did.

Antim knows that the mood and the reception, perhaps, might be different when she returns to the Delhi airport this time. Not that she will be reading too much into it.

“Apne India mein aise hai ki, jiska medal aaya usko itna upar utha lete hai. Jiska nahi aaya… (In India, whoever wins a medal, we lift them so high. And those who don’t…),” she says. “People do not see what situation she was in, mentally, physically… they don’t see anything, or understand the reasons behind a defeat. So eventually, you realise you just have your coach, physio, partner and family in your corner.”