Antim Panghal had challenged the authorities and Vinesh Phogat to decide the best Indian woman wrestler in the 53kg category but while she lost to one in court and the other is yet to respond, the 19-year old bested the rest of the competition during the Asian Games selection trials here on Saturday.
Antim beat Tamanna 7-2, thrashed Neha 12-2 and then pinned Manju in under two minutes in the final bout to stamp her class and authority in the category. Her reward, though, will only to be named as stand-by after the Delhi High Court dismissed petitions challenging the IOA ad-hoc committee’s decision to send Vinesh directly to the Games.
“Why should I be on stand-by? I fought all the bouts in the trials, I beat every competitor and won fair and square today in front of everyone? Those who did not participate should be on stand-by,” Antim quipped after the trials, also indicating that the fight will continue.
