MANISHA BHANWALA WAS SIX POINTS DOWN IN A WORLD FINAL. THEN SHE MADE HISTORY

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We have all had those moments when everything seems to be going wrong and the easiest thing would be to give up.

For Indian wrestler Manisha Bhanwala, that moment came in front of the world, in the final of the biggest competition of her career.

What she did next has made history and should give all of us a lift this weekend.

On Friday in Astana, Kazakhstan, the 29-year-old won gold in the women's 59kg category at the World Wrestling Championships, becoming the first Indian woman ever to be crowned a senior world wrestling champion, The Tribune reports.

Manisha Bhanwala's comeback nobody saw coming

Her opponent was American Abigail Nette, the reigning Pan American champion, and the opening period went badly.

According to The Week, Nette came out attacking, lifted Manisha's leg and threw her from near the edge of the mat for a four-point score.

A caution against Manisha soon followed, and she found herself trailing 6-0.

Plenty of athletes would have crumbled.

Instead, in the second period Manisha produced a seven-point burst that turned the match on its head, then held her nerve against a tiring opponent in the closing seconds to win 8-6.

Only one Indian wrestler had become a senior world champion before her: Sushil Kumar, who won the men's 66kg title back in 2010.

It was a big championship for Indian women in general, with teammates Neelam Sirohi and Kajal Dhochak winning silver and Tanu Sharma taking bronze, giving the women's team four medals.

Heartbreak before the triumph

What makes her win even sweeter is how much she had to overcome to get there.

As ThePrint reported on the eve of the final, Manisha had travelled to the Asian Games expecting to win gold, only to lose and come home without a medal.

She admitted the defeat left her feeling terrible.

Rather than let it break her, she moved up to a new weight class for the world championships.

She trains under coach Mandeep Singh at the Sir Chhotu Ram Akhara in Rohtak, in the northern Indian state of Haryana, and her calm going into the final was striking.

"Wrestling is everything for me," she told ThePrint.

There was grief, too.

Her father has died, but according to RevSportz, Manisha carried his photograph with her to the championships and says he is still part of her journey.

She recalled his simple advice: if you start something, learn how to finish it.

On Friday, she did exactly that.

RevSportz also reports she had set herself the goal of becoming world champion back in 2022 and had been holding on to that dream ever since.

Describing her love of the sport, she said, "For me, wrestling is worship."

What we can take from her win

You do not need to step onto a wrestling mat to find something in Manisha's story.

Most of us know what it is like to fall behind early, whether it is a tough year at work, a setback with our health or a plan that simply did not come off.

Her comeback is a lovely reminder that the first half is not the whole story.

A disappointing result, like her Asian Games loss, can be the very thing that sharpens your focus for the next challenge.

It is also a reminder of the power of writing down a big goal and quietly working towards it for years, and of carrying the people we love with us, even when they are no longer here.

Manisha is not new to success.

She was crowned Asian champion in 2025 after collecting three bronze medals at that event in previous years.

But a world title is something else entirely, and she has now opened a door that no Indian woman had walked through before.

Somewhere in India right now, a young girl is watching that 8-6 scoreline and deciding that she can do it too.

That might be the greatest prize of all.