Haryana CM Saini Felicitates World Champion Wrestler Manisha Bhanwala in Chandigarh
Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, along with Sports Minister Gaurav Gautam, felicitated wrestler Manisha Bhanwala in Chandigarh on 3 November 2026 after her historic gold medal-winning performance at the Senior World Wrestling Championships. Manisha, who hails from Siwaha village in Haryana’s Jind district, became the first Indian woman to win a gold medal at the Senior World Wrestling Championships, a landmark moment for Indian wrestling and for Haryana’s proud sporting tradition.
Manisha created history on 30 October 2026 in Astana, Kazakhstan, by winning the women’s 59 kg freestyle title. In the final she defeated Abigail Elizabeth Nette of the United States 8-6, staging a remarkable comeback after trailing 0-6. The victory ended India’s long wait for a women’s world champion in wrestling and made Manisha only the second Indian wrestler, after Sushil Kumar in 2010, to win a senior World Championship gold medal.
Speaking after the felicitation, Saini described the meeting as an energetic interaction with Haryana’s world champion daughter, saying she had presented the country with a Diwali gift through her achievement. The felicitation in Chandigarh recognised not only the medal itself but the years of training behind it, and it placed Manisha’s success alongside Haryana’s long line of wrestlers who have carried India’s flag at the highest level of the sport.
Manisha’s journey began in Siwaha, where she was introduced to sport by her father Suresh, who first enrolled her in kabaddi before she moved into wrestling. She later trained at an academy in Rohtak, building her career through the age-group and senior ranks. Asian Championship bronze medals in 2022, 2023 and 2024 were followed by Asian gold in 2025, and the world title in Astana completed a steady rise that had been years in the making. Her family and village in Jind have celebrated the win as a moment of pride for the whole region.
The gold also sets up the next chapter of her career. The 59 kg division is not an Olympic weight category, and Manisha has spoken of returning to the fiercely contested 57 kg division for the Los Angeles 2028 qualification cycle, with the long-term ambition of Olympic gold. For now, the world title stands on its own as a historic first for Indian women’s wrestling, and Haryana’s felicitation marks the state’s recognition of a daughter who has taken its wrestling tradition to the top of the world.
