New Delhi, Nov. 1 -- Manisha Bhanwala had nothing to lose after Abigail Nette of the US went 6-0 up in the 59kg final at the World Wrestling Championships in Astana. Manisha said she came back more determined in the second period and overturned the deficit, winning the final 8-6 to become India's first woman world champion in wrestling. "Whenever I am in a situation where I am trailing by a big margin, I just throw myself into attack because I have nothing to lose. I did exactly that, took the bout till the end and drew her into my fight," said Manisha in an interaction organized by the Wrestling Federation of India. "I did not perform that well at the Asian Games. I was frustrated, but the national coach (Virender Dahiya) told me to focus on the World Championships and pushed me to train. We didn't waste any time and got back to training," said the 29-year-old. "It was a long-time dream. I have competed in many weight classes and in three World Championships." In her long career, Manisha has shifted weight divisions from 65kg to 57kg, trying to find the right division as she is short. At the 2025 Asian Championships, she won gold in 62kg. She has four Asian Championships medals. In past World Championships, she competed in 62kg (2023) and 65kg (2024), before returning to 62kg last year. She then switched to 57kg with an eye on the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. She won gold at the national championships, and competed at the Asian Games. Manisha said she will return to 57kg at the senior nationals this year. Being an Olympic weight division, it was would also be useful to prepare for the LA Olympics qualifiers. "The target is to qualify for LA and 57kg being the Olympic weight, I will be preparing for that division. This title has given me the confidence. Several of the world wrestlers in 59kg whom I have competed against would switch to the Olympic weight (57kg) next year so that will be an advantage for me. Maintaining my weight (57kg) is not an issue," she said. Indian women wrestlers have given exceptional results at this World Championships. Manisha won the title, Neelam Sirohi (50kg) and 18-year-old Kajal Dhochak (76kg) took silver in Olympic weight classes. Tanu Sharma had bronze in 72kg. "We want to qualify for the LA Olympics in all the six weights and we have wrestlers who can do that," said Dahiya. Manisha, who comes from Jind, Haryana, wore a t-shirt with her father's picture after winning the world title. Her father died in 2022. Manisha then battled mental health issues before clawing her way back. "My father did everything for me and was passionate about the sport. His contribution to making me a wrestler is huge."...