India's wrestler Antim Panghal lost to Vanesa Kaladzinskaya of Belarus 5-4 on the basis of technical superiority, ending her unbeaten streak in the ongoing World Wrestling Championship in Belgrade, Serbia.
However, the 19-year-old, who has won the U-20 World Championship twice still stands a chance to win a medal as she will compete for a bronze medal and an Olympic quota spot in the 53 kg division on Thursday (tonight).
By taking a critical 1-0 lead at the end of the first round, Kaladzinskaya put Panghal on the defensive. Panghal made a valiant effort to win the fight in the second round but was unable to gain the upper hand.
Antim started her day on a high note by beating the reigning champion Olivia Dominique Parrish of the USA. She was behind 0-2 at one point but battled back against Parrish to win the match 3-2 in the end.
She continued her winning run in the next game when she took on Roksana Marta Zasina of Poland and outplayed her by technical superiority. After defeating Zasina, Antim found herself up against Natalia Malysheva of Russia (competing as a neutral athlete) and emerged victorious by a margin of 9-6.
After winning her first three matches, Antim was the only Indian wrestler to get to the semifinals. She was participating as a neutral athlete as the Wrestling Federation of India was suspended by United World Wrestling for failing to conduct elections on time.
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