It took three attempts in the space of three days but Manisha Bhanwala finally ended India’s wait for a gold medal in the women’s category of the Wrestling World Championships.

The 29-year-old defeated Abigail Nette of the United States 8-6 in the 59 kg final to become only the second Indian wrestler after Sushil Kumar to become world champion.

With her gold medal, Manisha ensured that India recorded its best- ever medal haul in women’s wrestling with Kajal Dhochak (silver in 76 kg), Neelam Sirohi (silver in 50 kg) and Tanu Sharma (bronze in 72 kg) making it a total of four medals, surpassing the previous-best from the 2021 edition (one silver and a bronze).

For the first time in the 35-year history of the competition, Indian women wrestlers reached three finals and won four medals. Two came in Olympic weight categories (50 kg and 76 kg) and two in non-Olympic classes (59 kg and 72 kg).…