India, Nov. 6 -- Indian women's wrestling took a leap forward at the Wrestling World Championships that concluded on November 1, with a record-breaking performance that included the making of our first women's world champion, a best-ever haul of four medals (a gold, two silvers and a bronze), and a fifth-place finish among 24 countries, our best standing ever at this event.

All four medallists are (no prizes for guessing this) from Haryana, a state where, two decades ago, women were not allowed into wrestling akhadas, and were largely barred from attending a dangal or bout.

All that changed in 2016, when Sakshi Malik, then 23, became the first Indian woman to win an Olympic medal (a bronze) in the sport.

She had been one of a handful t...