Besides Antim, Japan's Nonoka Ozaki, the United States of Americs's Amit Elor, Sweden's Emma Malmgren, and Romania's Andreea Ana are nominated for the award.
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Antim Panghal, an Indian female wrestler, has been nominated for the United World Wrestling (UWW) 2022 Rising Star of the Year award. Besides Antim, Japan’s Nonoka Ozaki, the United States of Americs’s Amit Elor, Sweden’s Emma Malmgren, and Romania’s Andreea Ana are among the five ladies nominated for the United World Wrestling 2022 Rising Star of the Year award.
Antim Panghal created headlines this year when she won India’s first-ever gold medal in the World U20 Wrestling Championships 2022 in August. The 18-year-old is also the reigning Asian champion in the same category. Antim Panghal defeated U20 Asian medalist Altyn Shagayeva of Kazakhstan in the 53kg final, junior European champion Amory Olivia Andrich of Germany 11-0, pinned Japan’s Ayaka Kimura, and also defeated Nataliia Klivchutska of Ukraine, a bronze medalist at the U20 European championships on her quest for gold.
Read more: Meet Antim Panghal: The trailblazer from World U20 Wrestling Championships
Prior to Antim, six Indian wrestlers had reached the finals of the junior world meet in the previous 44 editions, but none had won a gold medal. This year, Antim Panghal competed in four international events in various age divisions. Her season saw 16 victories and just one defeat, which came at the 2022 U23 Asian Championships when she was defeated by Uzbek Aktenge Keunimjaeva, who had won silver at the 2018 Junior World Championships. She earned gold medals at the U20 World Championships, the U20 Asian Championships and in the Zouhaier Sghaier Ranking Series.
Among the nominated ones, Nonoka Ozaki and Amit Elor are the respective world champions in the women’s 62 kg and 72 kg respectively and the prime contenders to claim the Rising Star award for the year 2022. Nonoka is the reigning Asian Wrestling champion, the current junior and the U23 world champion. Besides these accomplishments, she had clinched the won gold medal in the girls’ freestyle 57 kg event at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics held in Buenos Aires, Argentina. On the other hand, Elor is the reigning senior, U23, Junior and Cadet World champion.
