India’s golden hue at U17 world wrestling

CHENNAI: Wrestler Neha Sangwan might be just 17 but her international records for the past two years look impeccable. She competed in two tournaments this year winning gold in both with the latest coming at the ongoing U17 World Championships in Amman, Jordan on Thursday.

Before this, she had won gold in the U17 Asian Championships. This year, Neha won all eight bouts scoring 74 points and conceding only four. It was a shade better than 2023 wherein she won seven out of eight bouts across two tournaments winning a gold (U17 Asian C’ships) and a bronze (U17 Worlds) respectively.

Going by the numbers, Neha certainly is the star in the making. What makes her story more interesting is the fact that she is from Balali, Vinesh Phogat’s village and has been drawing inspiration from the two-time Worlds medallist for years.

On a day when Indian women clinched as many as four gold medals, Neha’s feat stood out as she defeated Japanese So Tsutsui 10-0 in the 57kg final by technical superiority to change her previous year’s bronze into gold. The Indian wrestler was ranked 14 while her counterpart from Japan was world no 3.