She was 0 to 6 down. Then she won. Manisha Bhanwala beat Abigail Nette of the United States 8 to 6 in the women’s 59kg freestyle final at the World Wrestling Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan, on Friday, 30 October 2026, and India finally had a woman world champion in wrestling, Rediff reported, citing PTI.
Manisha is 29. The only other Indian with a senior world title is Sushil Kumar, men’s 66kg, Moscow, 2010, according to Hindustan Times and Sportstar.
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How Manisha Bhanwala turned the final around
Nette went for the right leg early. She got it, and threw Manisha near the edge for four. India challenged. The challenge failed, so that was another point to the American. A caution against Manisha followed, Rediff reported, and the board read 6 to 0. Before the period ended Manisha got one back with a push out.
Nette tried the leg again after the break. Manisha was already moving, and slipped behind her for a takedown. This time the American corner challenged, claiming the referee had stopped the action. They lost it, according to Sportstar. Extra point to Manisha, plus par terre. At 6 to 4 down she went to a gut wrench, rolled Nette, and it was 6 all.
Still not enough, on paper. Nette’s bigger scoring move put her ahead on criteria, and she began trying to wind down the clock, Sportstar said. Manisha took her down once more. 8 to 6. For the final 27 seconds she defended against a tiring Nette, Rediff reported, and when the whistle blew she jumped, bowed and kissed the mat.
Her road to the gold
Round of 16: a win by fall over Canada’s Laurence Beauregard, a world championships bronze medallist. Quarterfinal: 6 to 0 against Mongolian Olympian Bolortuya Khurelkhuu. Semifinal: a win over Kazakhstan’s Altyn Shagayeva, who has a world under 23 bronze, Hindustan Times and Sportstar reported.
At the Asian Games she had wrestled at 57kg, the Olympic weight, and lost in the quarterfinals to Japan’s Akari Fujinami, Hindustan Times noted. For Astana she went up to 59kg, which is not an Olympic category.
“Today that dream has come true”
“I’ve been waiting for a long time for this moment,” Manisha said after the final, according to Sportstar. “From 2022, I’ve been writing that I would be world champion. This was my dream that I would be the first Indian woman to become a world champion. Today that dream has come true.”
A promise to her late father
Her father, Suresh, died in 2022. It happened on the morning she was supposed to leave for the Asian Championships in Mongolia, her brother Rinku told Rediff, in a report carried from PTI. Manisha was shattered, he said. She thought about giving up wrestling. The family had to persuade her to get on the flight.
Ahead of Astana she had a white T shirt printed with pictures of her parents, according to Rinku. She held it up to the crowd after the final. “It was her determination that she would win gold and show that T shirt to everyone. She did exactly that,” he told Rediff.
She is from a farming family in Jind, Haryana. Rinku plays kabaddi. Mamta Sihag, her sister in law, is a wrestler as well, Rediff reported.
India’s best ever women’s haul at the Worlds
Earlier in the week Neelam Sirohi (50kg) and Kajal Dhochak (76kg) had won silver. Tanu Sharma took bronze at 72kg. With Manisha’s gold, Indian women left with four medals, The Indian Express reported, against a previous best of one silver and one bronze in 2021. Three finals, too, which Indian women had never managed at a single Worlds before, the paper said.
Before Astana, one Indian woman had reached a world final: Anshu Malik, silver at 57kg in 2021, Hindustan Times noted.
“Eight out of ten,” was how Ian Butler, high performance director of the Indian wrestling team, rated it to The Indian Express. “I am proud of the fact that the girls bounced back from the Asian Games disappointment.” National coach Virender Dahiya told the paper he had expected four medals from the start.
Why the title matters
Olympic medals, world medals, yes. Gold at a World Championships, never, until Friday. The women’s team had come back from the Asian Games with one medal, according to Hindustan Times. Kajal, Tanu and Neelam, three of the four medallists in Astana, had not competed at those Games, The Indian Express said.
Read more on Bharat Stories about Kajal and Neelam’s silver medals at these championships, Sushil Kumar’s Olympic medals, and Sakshi Malik’s Rio 2016 bronze.
Featured image photo: Azerbaijan Wrestling Federation, CC BY SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. It is a representative photo of a women’s freestyle bout at the 2024 European Olympic qualification tournament and does not show Manisha Bhanwala.
FAQ
Who is Manisha Bhanwala?
A 29 year old freestyle wrestler from Jind, Haryana. She won the women’s 59kg gold at the 2026 World Wrestling Championships in Astana.
Whom did Manisha beat in the final?
Abigail Nette of the United States, 8 to 6, after trailing 6 to 0 in the first period.
Which other Indian has won a senior world wrestling title?
Sushil Kumar. He won the men’s 66kg freestyle title in Moscow in 2010.
Sources
- Rediff (PTI), 30 October 2026: final score, how the bout unfolded and the last 27 seconds.
- Rediff (PTI), 30 October 2026: family background, father Suresh and brother Rinku’s remarks.
- Hindustan Times, 30 October 2026: route to the final, Asian Games result and Anshu Malik’s 2021 silver.
- Sportstar, 30 October 2026: final sequence, criteria lead and Manisha’s quotes.
- The Indian Express, 30 October 2026: India’s four medal haul and remarks by Ian Butler and Virender Dahiya.