Astana, Indian wrestler Manisha Bhanwala delivered a standout performance to reach the 59 kg final, while Tanu Sharma clinched a bronze medal in the 72kg category at the Senior World Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan, on Thursday.

Manisha assured India a silver medal after defeating Mongolia’s Bolortuya Khurelkhuu in the semifinals. She will take on the USA’s Abigail Elizabeth Nette in the gold medal bout on Friday.

Earlier, Manisha began her campaign with a convincing 6-2 win against Canada’s Laurence Beauregard in the pre-quarterfinals.

In the 72kg weight class, Tanu secured her place on the podium with a hard-fought 9-5 victory over USA’s Precious Rosanna Bell in the third-place play-off.

Meanwhile, Ahilya Shinde made a quarterfinal exit in the 55kg category. She started with an 8-1 win over Cuba’s Yaynelis Sanz Verdecia in the round of 16 but lost 6-9 to Turkiye’s Tuba Demir in the last-eight stage.

In men’s freestyle, Vicky Hooda kept his medal hopes alive in the 97kg category. Despite suffering a 2-12 defeat by technical superiority against Japan’s Arash Yoshida in the quarter-finals, Vicky was pulled into the repechage round after the Japanese grappler reached the final.

However, Sujeet Kalkal’s campaign in the 65kg division came to an end. Sujeet, who narrowly lost his quarter-final bout 3-3 on criteria to Abdulmazhid Kudiev, was eliminated from the tournament.

Earlier, Kajal Dhochak and Neelam Sirohi concluded their historic run at the World Championships on Wednesday, returning with two silver medals after their respective final bouts.

In the 76kg title clash, 18-year-old Kajal went up against Ukraine’s Anastasiya Alpyeyeva. Making her senior World Championships debut after securing two U20 world titles, Kajal put up a fierce fight but lost the closely contested bout 6-8 to finish with a silver medal.

Taking the mat in the 50kg final, 26-year-old Neelam faced a formidable challenge against Japan’s four-time world champion Yui Susaki. She lost by fall after trailing 0-5.

The podium finishes marked a new milestone for Indian wrestling, as it was the first time two Indian women competed in the finals at the same edition of the World Championships. Their medals add to the breakthrough made by Anshu Malik, who became the first Indian woman to reach a World Championships final in 2021.

Kajal had earlier shown tremendous resilience in her path to the final, notably recovering from a 1-7 deficit to defeat Kyrgyzstan’s Aiperi Medet Kyzy 10-7 in the semifinals.

Neelam similarly displayed great composure throughout the tournament, securing her final berth with a comfortable 7-3 win over Kazakhstan’s Zeinep Bayanova.