CHENNAI: At times, her mother Babita, who is a housewife and has received no formal training in wrestling, had to turn up on the mat to be her sparring partner. Her father Ravinder, a driver by profession, too faced difficulties in supporting her to pursue her dreams. Then Covid struck, stranding everyone across the globe in their respective houses. Haryana wrestler Kajal and her family were no different.
During that period, she had gained a lot of weight. From competing in 50kg to 55kg, she suddenly had to switch to heavier weight categories like 65kg or 66kg. But that didn't slow her down. Instead, Kajal's attacking game made her more effective in the heavier weight divisions. In 2022, she participated in the U15 Asian Championships and clinched a gold medal in 66kg. She followed it up with a first place finish in the 73kg weight category in the U17 continental meet next year.
In 2024, she won the U17 World Championships in 69kg and repeated the show in the U20 Worlds next year but in 72kg. The 18-year-old wrestler from Lath village in Sonepat once again is in line to clinch the U20 Worlds title but this time in 76kg. Kajal didn't concede a point on her way to the final in the championships being held in Bratislava, Slovakia. And she kept the record intact as she defeated her Chinese rival, Jingru Sun, 7-0 in the summit clash to lift the title.
Coach Ajay Malik, who has witnessed Kajal's growth as a wrestler, strongly believes that her ward will be a force to reckon with in years to come. "Her uncle, who was a wrestler, encouraged her to take up the sport. She started wrestling at Guru Sadan School and shifted to Kuldeep Malik Sports Academy when my father started it four years ago," Ajay told this daily.
Kajal has already proved his coach right as she had won a gold each in two Ranking Series (one each in Hungary and Mongolia) earlier this year. Besides, she had finished on top of the podium in the 2026 U23 and U20 Asian Championships. "She gained a lot of weight during Covid but it didn't affect her natural aggressive game. In fact, her style of play fetched her more success in the higher weight categories," added the coach.
Like Kajal, India's Savita too made it to the 62kg final. However, she lost the final 2-12 against Sakura Onishi of Japan to win a silver medal. Earlier, she first beat Feruza Kairatdinova of Uzbekistan 10-0 before defeating Turkiye's Ozdenur Ozmez by fall in the quarterfinal. Savita then outclassed Yifan Zhu of China in the last four stage.
Mansi in final
Mansi Lather assured herself a medal on Thursday as she stormed into the final of the 68kg weight category. She defeated Taina Rose Fernandez of USA 10-2 in the qualification round before pinning Norway's Leah Melina Falkeid Samsonsen in the quarterfinal. She overpowered Evangeliia Berezhnova of Russia 12-0 in the semifinal to make it to the final where she will be up against Chenling Song of China.
Besides, Tanvi Gundesh Magdum will vie for bronze in the 57kg on Friday while Komal will compete in the repechage round of the 59kg. While the women continued their good run in the tournament, two men freestyle wrestlers (Mayank, 61kg and Arun, 86kg) fell out of medal contention.