World under-20 champion Antim Panghal displayed her class to bag the women’s 53kg gold medal in the wrestling arena of the National Games here on Sunday.
Giving a series of dominating performances, Antim lived up to her reputation and warmed herself up for the World under-23 championships in Spain later this month.
Antim outclassed all her opponents with an identical 10-0 margin to set up a title clash with World under-20 bronze medallist Priyanshi Prajapat.
In the final, Antim showcased her alertness and agility to tame a spirited Priyanshi, who usually competes in 50kg, with some fine defence backed by solid counterattacks.
Antim effected two takedowns and a push-out in the opening period to take a 5-0 lead and then returned to pin Priyanshi at the score of 9-0 with more than two minutes left in the clock.
“I followed my coach’s advice and did not let a wrestler from a lower weight (Priyanshi) to seize initiative. I am fully ready for the World under-23 event,” said Antim.
Mansi pinned Neetu for the women’s 57kg crown.
Yash Tushir got a walkover from an injured Commonwealth Games gold medallist Naveen Malik in the semifinals and spectacularly beat World under-20 bronze medallist Sagar Jaglan 6-1 in the final to pick up the men’s freestyle 74kg gold.
Jointy Kumar defeated Vetal in an action-packed freestyle 86kg title clash.
Gyanender (60kg) beat Vikas 9-0 for the 60kg gold, while Satish got a walkover against Naveen in the 130kg Greco Roman summit clashes.
