When Manisha Bhanwala, the first Indian woman wrestler to create history by winning a gold medal in the World Wrestling Championship, after the victory, proudly showed off the white T-shirt with the pictures of her parents on it to the audience, it was not just a celebration of the historic victory, but it was a tribute to her late father from the daughter who had kept his dream in her heart for years. For Manisha, India’s first female wrestling world champion, this gold medal was not only the biggest achievement of her career so far, but it was also the moment of fulfillment of her family’s dream. Especially the dream of her father Suresh, who died on the day Manisha was to leave for the Asian Championships in 2022.
Father died suddenly on the day of departure of Asian Championship
Manisha Bhanwala hails from Jind, Haryana and comes from a farming family where sports environment has always been there. His brother Rinku is a Kabaddi player while sister-in-law Mamta Sihag is also a wrestler. Manisha developed interest in sports after seeing her brother playing Kabaddi in the village. Manisha’s brother Rinku told news agency PTI that everyone in our family has been associated with sports. She used to watch me playing Kabaddi in the village and from there she got inspiration. After this we decided that he should try his hand at some individual sport instead of team sport. Manisha was physically strong and mental toughness has always been her greatest strength. Rinku told that she still remembers that morning very well, when Manisha had to leave for Mongolia for the Asian Championship and her father had attended Jagran the previous night and the next morning he died in his sleep due to a heart attack. Manisha was preparing to leave, but that very morning our father passed away. Manisha did not want to leave the house. We had to explain to him that if he left wrestling then all the hard work our father had done to make him a wrestler would go in vain. After a lot of convincing, we were somehow successful in getting him to board the flight to Mongolia.
Before leaving for Astana, Manisha had got a white T-shirt made with pictures of her parents.
Before leaving for Astana, Manisha Bhanwala had got a white T-shirt made with the pictures of her parents so that the memories of her parents remain with her in this important match. Manisha’s brother Rinku told that before leaving for Astana, he had printed the photographs of our parents on a white T-shirt. She was determined that she would win the gold medal and show that T-shirt to everyone. He did exactly that. It was the dream of our entire family that Manisha become world champion and today she has achieved it. It is even more special for our father. His dream and the wish of the entire family has been fulfilled today.
Manisha defeated American player in gold medal match
Indian female wrestler Manisha Bhanwala faced American player Abigail Nette in the gold medal match of the Wrestling World Championship, in which she managed to make a brilliant comeback after trailing 0-6 and won the match by a margin of 8-6 and won the historic gold medal. Manisha has changed the weight category several times in her wrestling career, in which she has also competed in 62 kg, 65 kg and 57 kg categories, but at the age of 29, she managed to win the biggest title of her career in the non-Olympic 59 kg category.
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SK Sharma is a content writer who writes on news, entertainment, and lifestyle topics. She has over four years of experience and is known for conveying information in simple and clear language.
