Manisha Bhanwala: The 'Tees' That Wouldn't Let Her Rest, A Promise To Her Father And World Wrestling Gold

Ask Manisha Bhanwala about her wrestling journey, and she will tell you about her father, Suresh Bhanwala, whom she calls 'father sahab'. On Friday, she gave him another reason to be proud.

Manisha defeated the USA's Abigail Nette 8-6 in the 59kg final at the World Wrestling Championships in Astana to become the first Indian woman to win a senior world title. During the celebrations, she held up a white T-shirt bearing her father's photograph.

Suresh Bhanwala passed away in 2022 and could not witness his daughter's historic win. But Manisha made sure his photograph was there as she celebrated the biggest victory of her career.

His photograph has been her WhatsApp display picture for the past four years. It is a small reminder of the person she thinks about every time she steps onto the mat.

"Before 2022, I was wrestling for myself. But after my father passed away, everything changed. I wanted to show him that I was doing well and that I would make him proud," Manisha had told Outlook India ahead of the World Championships.

The 29-year-old's journey to the world title was marked by years of hard work and disappointment. She had competed at three World Championships without winning a medal, with a fifth-place finish continuing to haunt her.

But she kept going, driven by her father's dream and her determination to reach the top.

The Morning That Changed Everything

In April 2022, Manisha was preparing to travel to Mongolia for the senior Asian Championships. She had received her first selection at the senior level, and her flight was scheduled for that night. But earlier that afternoon, her father suffered a cardiac arrest and passed away.

The news came just hours before Manisha was due to leave for Mongolia. With her father gone, she was devastated and even thought about giving up wrestling. Her family, however, encouraged her not to abandon the sport he had supported her in. They reminded her of his dream and the sacrifices he had made for her career.

Manisha eventually went to Mongolia for her first senior Asian Championships and returned with a bronze medal.

It was the beginning of her senior international career, but also a tournament she would never forget.

"There are many things we experience in life that stay with us. My father's dreams and the things we hold close to our hearts keep coming back. After his death, it felt as though a different voice had started speaking inside me, telling me that I had to achieve something. I became much more motivated. I feel that my father is always with me," she said.

Manisha had started wrestling around 2014-15, but becoming a world champion was not something she had thought about when she first entered the sport. She said her ambitions began to change after the 2020 lockdown, when she started thinking more seriously about what she wanted to achieve.

Her father's death in 2022 gave those ambitions a different meaning. She was no longer competing only for herself.

Three World Championships And The Frustration Of Finishing Fifth

Manisha's journey to the top was not straightforward. Before winning gold in Astana, she had competed at three senior World Championships without a medal.

Her closest opportunity came in 2024 in Tirana, Albania, where she reached the bronze medal bout in the 65kg category. But she lost 8-2 to Japan's Miwa Morikawa and finished fifth.

The result stayed with her.

"Bohot tees si hai ki paanchvein number par reh jaati hoon," she said, speaking about the frustration of repeatedly finishing fifth.

Despite the disappointment, she continued to work towards improving her performance. She also made changes to her weight category, having competed in the 62kg and 65kg divisions before moving between 57kg and 59kg.

The change required her to pay close attention to her diet, weight, stamina and fitness. But Manisha did not look at these adjustments as sacrifices she had to make reluctantly. She enjoyed the challenge of pushing herself.

"I like pushing myself. I like putting myself through difficult things. When you have decided that you want something, you have to work for it. You have to maintain your diet, your fitness, your stamina and your weight. Everything has to be in place."

Her approach to training was summed up in one line during the interview: "Khud ko torture karna bohot badhiya lagta hai" (I really enjoy torturing myself).

She does not mind the difficult parts of being an athlete. Whether it is maintaining her weight or putting in extra hours on the mat, she enjoys testing her own limits.

A Comeback That Made History

Manisha arrived at the 2026 World Championships in Astana after competing in the 57kg category at the Asian Games earlier in the month. She lost 3-0 to Japan's Akari Fujinami, the Paris 2024 Olympic champion, in the quarter-finals.

For the World Championships, she switched to the non-Olympic 59kg category and produced an impressive run to the final.

She began with a victory by fall over Canada's Laurence Beauregard, a 2025 world bronze medallist and four-time Pan American champion. She then defeated Mongolia's Bolortuya Khurelkhuu 6-0 in the quarter-finals.

In the semi-finals, Manisha took on home favourite Altyn Shagayeva of Kazakhstan. She led 3-0 in the opening period before extending her advantage to 10-0 and winning by fall.

The final against American wrestler Abigail Nette, the reigning Pan American champion, was a different challenge.

Manisha found herself trailing 6-0, but she fought her way back into the contest and eventually won 8-6. It was a remarkable comeback and the biggest victory of her career.

With that win, she became the first Indian woman to win a senior World Championships wrestling gold. She also became only the second Indian wrestler to win a senior world title, joining Sushil Kumar, who had claimed the men's 66kg freestyle gold in 2010.

Sixteen years after Sushil's triumph, India had another senior world champion.

'If You Have Practised, Why Should You Feel Pressure?'

Manisha does not believe in treating one competition as more important than another. Whether it is the World Championships, the Asian Championships or a domestic selection trial, she approaches them with the same mindset.

"For me, the World Championships, the Asian Championships and the World Ranking events are all the same. I don't think one competition is bigger than another. I get equally excited for every tournament. Whether it is a selection trial or a World Championships bout, my mindset remains the same."

She believes that the work an athlete puts in during training should take care of the pressure that comes with competition.

"If you have practised enough, why should you feel pressure? You have already done the work. You have repeated the same things during training so many times. How can the competition suddenly put you under pressure?"

She explained her approach through a simple example involving her mother.

"My mother cooks every day. She knows how to prepare the food. But if guests come home one day when she isn't there, how can we expect the food to turn out perfectly just by putting someone else under pressure? It is the same with wrestling. The more you practise every day, the closer you get to success."

Asked about the uncertainty and administrative issues that have affected Indian wrestling, Manisha said athletes cannot spend too much time worrying about things beyond their control.

"An athlete doesn't have that much time to keep thinking about everything happening around them. The people responsible will take their decisions. You have to focus on your own work."

She also spoke about the changes brought into the Indian training setup through the Japanese coaching team. According to her, discussions and collective work have helped athletes focus on different aspects of their wrestling.

A Dream Her Father Wanted To See

Manisha's journey began in Siwaha village in Haryana's Jind district. Watching her brother play kabaddi introduced her to sports. She eventually took up wrestling, although she did not initially imagine that she would one day become a world champion.

She now lives with her mother, brother, sister-in-law and sister. The family also includes her nine-month-old nephew, whom she jokingly says she would like to introduce to wrestling.

Winning the World Championships gold is the biggest achievement of Manisha's career so far. But she has no plans of stopping here. There are more competitions ahead and more goals she wants to achieve.

Her father's dream had kept her going even when she considered quitting wrestling. In Astana, she finally became a world champion.