Budapest

Pooja Dhanda became only the fourth Indian woman grappler to win a medal at the World Championships, grabbing a bronze with a stunning 10-7 win over the 2017 European champion Grace Bullen here today.

One of the two wrestlers in medal contention, the 24-year-old executed a four-point throw in each of the two periods in the 57kg contest to deliver the best performance of her career. It is the second big medal for Pooja this season, having won the silver in the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast. Only Alka Tomar (2006), Geeta Phogat (2012) and Babita Phogat (2012) have won bronze medals for India at the World Championships before Pooja.

She opened up a 4-1 lead with a throw. She consolidated it with a roll and took a 6-1 lead at the end of the first period. After conceding a point for a step-out, Pooja stunned the Norwegian with another four-point throw to zoom to a 10-2 lead. Grace reduced the gap with a take-down and a couple of push-outs to put pressure on Pooja, who was cautioned twice. She managed to avoid a third caution, holding off Grace to win the bout. She had earlier erased a three-point deficit to win her repechage round 8-3 against Azerbaijan’s Alyona Kolesnik.