New Delhi: An athlete’s biggest test, perhaps, comes not when they’re dominating but when they’re down. When a match is going against them. When the clock is against them. When a glance at the scoreboard doesn’t give reason to breathe easy. Manisha Bhanwala, competing in the non-Olympic 59kg category, faced multiple challenges in the Wrestling World Championships final on Friday.At Astana’s Barys Arena, USA’s Abigail Nette led Bhanwala 6-0 in the first period and then 6-1 at the break. But a lapse from the American gave the 29-year-old Indian an ‘in’ which saw the deficit reduced to two points. With half a minute left, Bhanwala forced a takedown to take an 8-6 lead, which she held on to win a historic medal.
How historic? Manisha Bhanwala had become the first Indian woman to win a gold medal at the Wrestling World Championships. She became the first Indian, male or female, to stand atop the podium since Sushil Kumar in 2010. At 29, she is the oldest of the 24 Indians to have won a medal at the World Championships.However, none of this would have been possible without the mental strength to overturn that 0-6 deficit.“Manisha and I sat and watched her (Nette) videos before the final. We observed that she gets tired in the fifth or sixth minute. After that, she would get exhausted. But, as a coach, as a guardian, there was a tiny bit of concern at 0-6,” said national coach Virender Kumar in a virtual interaction conducted by Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) from Astana on Saturday.“Still, I was confident that in these moments, Manisha starts to pounce like a lion. I knew she would take a lot of points in the fifth minute. She has the capability to take 10 points in a minute. In the 30-second break, I told Manisha that she would take a lot of points in the fifth or sixth minute. I was confident of it,” he continued.
Manisha Bhanwala (L) in action against USA’s Abigail Nette in the Senior Wrestling World Championships final. (UWW)
The seeds for such confidence and mental strength are sown in training. In sparring contests, she would experiment with different scenarios to keep herself ready for competitions: down 0-6, as was the case in the final, down 0-10 and other such virtual situations.Manisha took up wrestling late in her life, introduced to it by her late father Suresh, who she still fondly refers to as “Father Sahab”.Born in Siwaha, 10 km outside Jind in Haryana, Manisha took up wrestling to please her father. As Manisha held the tricolour aloft and wore the gold medal around her neck, her father was with her.She wore a special T-shirt bearing his photograph during her warm-up. Prior to leaving for Kazakhstan, she got a white T-shirt printed and had the faces of her parents added to it.
“There is no ‘idea’ behind this. These things cannot be ‘ideas’. These are feelings, something you just get from the inside. Three days before arriving in Astana, I got it done. I got it done because I had a feeling that I would come back with a medal, with a record,” said Manisha.With brother Rinku a kabaddi player and sister-in-law Mamta Sihag a wrestler, the family knows a thing or two about heartbreak. None bigger than when Suresh passed away due to a cardiac arrest shortly before Manisha was set to leave for the 2022 Asian Championships in Mongolia.A distraught Manisha wished to skip the competition but her family reminded her of Suresh’s dreams. Eventually, Manisha won a bronze medal there before adding three more Asian Championships medals, including a gold last year.“My father has taught me one thing since childhood. If you get involved in any work, then finish it. That thing is in my blood. Don’t get involved in any work if you don’t plan on finishing it. For me, the first and last option is wrestling,” said Manisha.
My father has taught me one thing since childhood. If you get involved in any work, then finish it. That thing is in my blood
Manisha Bhanwala
Coach Virender Kumar stressed her work ethic and dedication to the sport. “When I met Manisha for the first time in 2022, I was her junior coach. In the summers of May and June, the temperature was around 45 degrees. When she used to go for practise, she used to do it twice a day. At that time, I used to think, ‘Is this girl crazy?’”“Then, gradually, I got attached to her. This girl has no hobby, no interest in going out and watching movies, spend money on clothes, etc. She has only one hobby: wrestling. And the result of that is in front of you,” he continued.
Path to LA 2028 and shift to 57kg category
Manisha Bhanwala became the first Indian woman wrestler to win gold at the World Championships. (UWW)
The big challenge for Manisha now is the shift to the 57kg category with the aim of not just qualifying for LA 2028 but winning a medal too. Having competed in multiple categories – 59kg, 57kg, 62kg, 65kg – Manisha’s big challenge will be to maintain weight for the 57kg competition.“When I won yesterday (Friday), the coach came in the evening. The whole team was there. The coach decided that training begins from the morning itself. Now we have the senior nationals and the PWL (Pro Wrestling League). When the India camp starts, we will start from there. The whole team will work on it. We will then reassess what to do, which competitions to play, and which not to play. The coach decides after speaking to the rest of the team,” said Manisha.Coach Virender Kumar said Manisha can count on her wealth of experience when it comes to this highly competitive category.“As a team member, there are more girls in 57kg. But after a year, the biggest thing will be the experience. If yesterday there was another girl in place of Manisha, who was trailing 0-6 in the final, I don’t think she would have recovered from it.“I will give an example. Look at Kajal, she is 18 years old. She lost the final that she should have won. The only reason she lost was that she’s inexperienced. In the next year and more, what Manisha does in domestic and international season will be key, but so will be the experience,” he finished.
