A golden weekend for Indian women's sport: wrestling world title, kabaddi crown and a badminton double

Manisha Bhanwala: first Indian woman wrestling world champion

Manisha Bhanwala won the 59 kg freestyle gold at the Senior World Wrestling Championships in Astana, becoming the first Indian woman to win a senior wrestling world title. In the final, the 29-year-old from Haryana beat Abigail Nette of the United States 8-6, recovering from a 0-6 deficit. Before her win, India had never won a women's gold at the senior world championships, and she is only the second Indian wrestler after Sushil Kumar, who won the men's 66 kg title in 2010, to claim a senior world crown.

Her gold capped a four-medal campaign for the Indian women's team in Astana. Kajal Dhochak and Neelam Sirohi won silver medals, and Tanu Sharma took bronze in the 72 kg category. Bhanwala's triumph also crossed a hurdle that had previously eluded Anshu Malik in 2021, according to the report of the championships.

Kabaddi: unbeaten run to the first Commonwealth crown

In Ahmedabad, the Indian women's kabaddi team beat Uganda 35-15 in the final to become the first women's champions of the inaugural Commonwealth Kabaddi Championship. Led by captain Nidhi Sharma, India completed a perfect campaign of six wins from six matches.

Sakshi top-scored in the final with nine raid points from 10 raids, including two bonus points, while Anu added six raid points and Nidhi Sharma five. India led 22-7 at half-time after outscoring Uganda 15-4 in a run that included an All-Out, and a second All-Out late in the match put the result beyond doubt. Sakshi finished the championship with 52 points from six matches. For Uganda, Nakayongo Shirat scored 11 of her team's 15 points.

India's road to the title began with a 73-13 win over Malaysia, followed by victories over Singapore (32-16), Uganda (41-18) and Nigeria (38-10) to top Group A, and a 39-14 semi-final win over Sri Lanka.

Badminton: Sindhu and Sen sweep the Hylo Open

At the Hylo Open Super 500 tournament in Saarbrucken, Germany, PV Sindhu and Lakshya Sen won the women's and men's singles titles respectively on Sunday, 1 November. Sindhu, the second seed, beat Line Kjaersfeldt of Denmark 21-12, 21-14 in 39 minutes. It was her second title of the season after the Japan Open in July, and her seventh BWF World Tour title overall.

Later in the day, Lakshya Sen beat Jonatan Christie of Indonesia 21-17, 21-10, also in 39 minutes, to claim his second Hylo Open crown after his 2019 win and his fifth World Tour title. The double gave India both singles titles at the same event.

Why the weekend mattered

Across three different sports, the weekend produced firsts rather than routine wins: a first women's wrestling world title for India, a first women's Commonwealth kabaddi crown, and a rare double of singles titles at one badminton tournament. The wrestling and kabaddi triumphs both came at the end of unbeaten or medal-heavy team campaigns, while the badminton double closed a week in which Sindhu had also reached the French Open final the previous week.

Editorial disclosure

This article was researched with AI assistance and reviewed by the publisher before publication. Report factual errors through our contact page.