At the Asian Wrestling Championships 2025 in Amman, Jordan, on Friday, wrestlers Manisha Bhanwala (62 kg) and Antim Panghal (53 kg) won home the gold and bronze in their respective weight classes, respectively, for India, according to Olympics.com.

Manisha Bhanwala won India’s first women’s freestyle wrestling gold medal at the continental meet since 2021 after defeating Ok J Kim of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea 8–7 in the final.

At the 2021 edition, Sarita Mor and Vinesh Phogat took first place in their respective categories. Manisha defeated Tynys Dubek of Kazakhstan with technical advantage to start her medal quest.

The Indian wrestler defeated Kalmira Bilimbek Kyzy, the reigning champion of Kyrgyzstan, 5-1 in the quarterfinals after pinning down Hanbit Lee of the Republic of Korea.

With a 2–7 deficit against Ok J Kim, Manisha, who had won three straight bronze medals at the Asian Championships from 2022–2024, was headed for a silver this time.

She did, however, turn the tables spectacularly and upgrade herself to gold at the last minute.

Antim Panghal, meanwhile, won a bronze in the 53kg class to commemorate her first international tournament since the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

Antim Panghal defeated World Championships silver winner Jin Zhang of the People’s Republic of China 10–6 to begin her campaign, but in the semi-finals, she was defeated by Japan’s Moe Kiyooka, the 55kg world champion, due to technical superiority.

Then, with technical superiority, Antim Panghal won bronze against Meng Hsuan Hsieh of Taipei, China.

With the two wins on Friday, India now has seven medals from the current championships: five bronze, one silver, and one gold.

Reetika Hooda, the current U23 world champion, took home a silver medal Thursday in the women’s freestyle 76kg class.

Earlier in the tournament, Greco-Roman wrestlers Nitesh (97kg) and Sunil Kumar (87kg), Muskan (women’s 59kg), and Mansi Lather (women’s 68kg) had all taken home bronze.

Neha Sharma (57 kg), Monika (65 kg), and Jyoti Berwal (72 kg), the other three Indian wrestlers competing that day, came away without a victory.

Over the following two days of the continental tournament, Indian men’s freestyle wrestlers, including Tokyo 2020 Olympian Deepak Punia, will compete.