Most wrestlers would mentally give up if they were trailing 0-6 in a World Championship final, Manisha Bhanwala is cut from a different cloth. In fact, India’s star women’s grappler Bhanwala was convinced that she could turn things around against USA’s Abigail Nette in the 59kg final on Friday. And the Haryana grappler did just that, scoring eight unanswered points to stroll into the history books by becoming India’s first female world champion in Astana.

The comeback plan

India women’s wrestling coach Virender Dahiya revealed that the strategy was to wear Nette down before launching an attack. The coaching staff had noticed from video footage that the American tended to tire towards the fifth or sixth minute of her bouts.