Indian wrestling has its first woman world champion. Manisha Bhanwala came back from six points down to 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, Rediff reported, citing PTI.
The 29 year old is only the second Indian to win a senior world title, after Sushil Kumar, who won the men’s 66kg crown in Moscow in 2010, according to Hindustan Times and Sportstar.
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How Manisha Bhanwala turned the final around
The final started badly for the Indian. Nette attacked her right leg early and threw her near the edge of the mat for four points. India’s challenge against the call failed, giving the American another point, and a caution for Manisha made it 6 to 0, Rediff reported. Manisha won a push out point before the first period ended.
The second period was a different contest. When Nette went for another leg attack, Manisha slipped behind her for a takedown. The American corner challenged, arguing that the referee had stopped the action, and lost, which gave Manisha an extra point and a par terre position, Sportstar reported. From 6 to 4 down, she turned Nette with a gut wrench to level the score at 6 to 6.
Nette still led on criteria because of her bigger scoring move and tried to run down the clock, according to Sportstar. Manisha scored another takedown to go 8 to 6 ahead, then defended hard against a tiring opponent through the final 27 seconds, Rediff reported. At the whistle she jumped with joy, bowed and kissed the mat.
Her road to the gold
Manisha opened with a win by fall over Canada’s Laurence Beauregard, a world championships bronze medallist, in the round of 16. She then beat Mongolian Olympian Bolortuya Khurelkhuu 6 to 0 in the quarterfinals and beat Kazakhstan’s Altyn Shagayeva, a world under 23 bronze medallist, in the semifinals, Hindustan Times and Sportstar reported.
The result was a sharp turnaround. At the Asian Games, she wrestled at 57kg, the Olympic weight, and lost to Japan’s Akari Fujinami in the quarterfinals, Hindustan Times noted. She then moved to the non Olympic 59kg class for the Worlds.
“Today that dream has come trueâ€
“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.â€
A promise to her late father
The win carried a personal story. Her father, Suresh, died in 2022 on the morning she was due to leave for the Asian Championships in Mongolia, her brother Rinku told Rediff, in a report carried from PTI. Manisha was shattered and even thought of giving up the sport, he said, and the family had to persuade her to board the flight.
Before leaving for Astana, she had a white T shirt printed with pictures of her parents, Rinku said. After the final, she held it up to the crowd. “It was her determination that she would win gold and show that T shirt to everyone. She did exactly that,†he said, according to Rediff.
Manisha comes from a farming family in Jind, Haryana, where sport runs deep. Rinku is a kabaddi player and her sister in law, Mamta Sihag, is also a wrestler, Rediff reported.
India’s best ever women’s haul at the Worlds
Her gold capped India’s best showing in women’s wrestling at the World Championships. Neelam Sirohi (50kg) and Kajal Dhochak (76kg) won silver earlier in the week and Tanu Sharma took bronze at 72kg, giving Indian women four medals, The Indian Express reported. The paper said that beat the previous best, one silver and one bronze, from the 2021 edition, and that it was the first time Indian women had reached three finals.
Before this edition, Anshu Malik was the only Indian woman to have reached a world final, taking silver at 57kg in 2021, Hindustan Times noted.
Ian Butler, high performance director of the Indian wrestling team, told The Indian Express he would rate the campaign “eight out of tenâ€. “I am proud of the fact that the girls bounced back from the Asian Games disappointment,†he said. National coach Virender Dahiya said he had expected four medals from the start, the newspaper reported.
Why the title matters
For years, Indian women wrestlers had won Olympic and world medals without reaching the very top step of the world podium. Manisha’s gold changes that record, and it comes in a year when the women’s team had returned from the Asian Games with only one medal, according to Hindustan Times. Three of the four Worlds medallists, Kajal, Tanu and Neelam, had not even competed at the Asian Games, The Indian Express said, which points to growing depth in the squad.
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?
She is a 29 year old freestyle wrestler from Jind in Haryana who won the women’s 59kg gold at the 2026 World Wrestling Championships in Astana.
Whom did Manisha beat in the final?
She beat 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, who 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.