Manisha Bhanwala becomes third Indian woman to reach World Wrestling Championships final
The 59kg wrestler will face Pan American champion Abigail Elizabeth Nette for gold in Astana.
Manisha Bhanwala reached the women's 59kg final at the World Wrestling Championships in Astana, becoming the third Indian woman to do so. She will face USA's Abigail Elizabeth Nette in the title bout on Friday.
Key takeaways
- Manisha Bhanwala reached the women's 59kg final at the World Wrestling Championships in Astana.
- She became the third Indian woman to reach a final at the World Wrestling Championships.
- She beat Altyn Shagayeva by fall after leading 10-0 in the semifinal.
- She previously pinned Laurence Beauregard and beat Bolortuya Khurelkhuu 6-0.
- She will face Pan American champion Abigail Elizabeth Nette in the final on Friday.
Manisha Bhanwala reached the women's 59kg final at the World Wrestling Championships in Astana on Thursday, October 29, 2026, becoming the third Indian woman to reach the final at the World Wrestling Championships. She will face USA's Pan-American champion Abigail Elizabeth Nette in the title clash on Friday, October 30, 2026.
Semifinal run
Manisha ended the day with a commanding semifinal performance against Kazakhstan's Altyn Shagayeva, taking a 10-0 lead before pinning her opponent.
From an arm-locked position, she turned and threw the Kazakh wrestler onto the mat for a four-point move before holding her in an iron grip to secure the fall. The score stood at 10-0 when the bout ended.
Earlier, Manisha had beaten Canada's Laurence Beauregard by fall before registering a comfortable 6-0 victory over Mongolia's Bolortuya Khurelkhuu in the quarterfinals.
Context
Manisha opted to compete in the non-Olympic 59kg category even though she had competed in the 57kg and 62kg categories in the past.
She returned from the Asian Games without a medal in 57kg after expecting to win gold but losing to a rival despite wrestling well; that rival also lost, so she returned empty-handed.
Manisha won the Asian Championships title last year after claiming bronze medals in three previous editions. A day earlier, Neelam Sirohi at 50kg and Kajal Dhochak at 76kg secured silver medals for the country.
Other Indian results
In men's freestyle, Vicky at 97kg was defeated 12-2 by Japan's Arash Yoshida in the quarterfinals and made it to the repechage round to stay in the race for a bronze medal.
Asian Games champion Sujeet Kalkal at 65kg lost 3-3 on criteria to Abdulmazhid Kudiev in the quarterfinals after rallying from 2-9 down to beat the Tajikistan wrestler in the Asian Games final.
Ahilya Shinde at 55kg was beaten 9-6 by Turkey's Tuba Demir in the last-eight stage.
What happens next
The final takes place on Friday, October 30, 2026, in Astana, where Manisha will face Abigail Elizabeth Nette of the USA for the gold medal.
Manisha Bhanwala's route to the final
Opponent | Result | Stage |
|---|---|---|
Laurence Beauregard (Canada) | Win by fall | Earlier round |
Bolortuya Khurelkhuu (Mongolia) | 6-0 | Quarterfinal |
Altyn Shagayeva (Kazakhstan) | Win by fall, led 10-0 | Semifinal |
Related on Apex Sports News
Sources
Topics
- Asian Games
- World Wrestling Championships
- Asian Championships
- India
- Japan
- Kazakhstan
- Canada
- USA
- Mongolia
- Tajikistan
- Kajal Dhochak
- Neelam Sirohi
- Sujeet Kalkal
- Abdulmazhid Kudiev
- Manisha Bhanwala
- Abigail Elizabeth Nette
- Altyn Shagayeva
- Laurence Beauregard
- Bolortuya Khurelkhuu
- Arash Yoshida
- World Wrestling Championships
- Astana
- Manisha Bhanwala
- India wrestling
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