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Babita clinches bronze in World Championships
When Babita Kumari clinched a bronze in the 51kg category of the World Championships, she became only the second woman wrestler from India to have won a medal since 2006 in the meet.
When Babita Kumari clinched a bronze in the 51kg category of the World Championships, she became only the second woman wrestler from India to have won a medal since 2006 in the meet.
The younger sister of Olympian Geeta Phogat, Babita accomplished the feat in Edmonton, Canada. Earlier, Alka Tomar had won a bronze in China six years ago.
While in the semi-qualification round, she defeated Hsin-Ju Chiu of Chinese Taipei, she got the better of Japan's Risako Kawai in the qualification round.
However, she lost out to Canada's Jessica Anne Marrie Macdonald Bondy in the semifinals. Not the one to give up, Babita defeated Russian Zamira Rakhmanova in the repechage round to clinch the bronze.
“I’m very happy with the medal she’s won,” says father Mahavir Singh, the man who had encouraged his daughters to take up the sport. "However, the main goal is an Olympic medal. This will encourage her to work harder for a medal in the next Games."
Indian wrestlers were taking part in seven weight categories in the tournament. Silpi Sheoran (59kg) and Navjot Kaur (67kg) finished fifth in their respective categories.
