Last year, Priya Malik had become the first Indian woman wrestler to win gold in the 73kg weight class (the highest) at the U17 World Championships. This year, she defended her gold medal to become only the third India woman to have retained her U17 Worlds crown.
In the lighter 43kg division, another Indian, Ritika Kataria triumphed to win her first crown at the age-group world event.
Malik started her campaign with a 3-1 win over American grappler Kaiulani Garcia, and then charged through to a 10-0 win over Poland’s Dominika Pochowska. In the semifinals she pinned Kazakh Alina Yertostik to set up a clash against European Championship bronze medallist Mariia Zenkina of Ukraine.
But the 17-year-old could not be shaken, as she did not concede a single point, securing a 10-0 win with 55 seconds remaining on the clock, to retain her title. That made her the third Indian woman after Sonam Malik and Komal Panchal to become two-time U17 World Champions.
Meanwhile, 15-year-old Kataria made it to the final to set up a clash against American grappler and 2021 gold medallist (40kg) Erica Pastoriza.
But Pastoriza could not get a single attack on the Indian who came charging out of the blocks. She put up a strong 9-0 lead before pinning her American opponent to win her first world gold.
Here’s a look at the other significant results from India in women’s categories on Thursday as three other made the finals:
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