India, Feb. 20 -- Six months back, Antim Panghal marked her Olympic debut at Champ-de-Mars Arena in Paris only to watch her dream vapourise inside 90 seconds. The 20-year-old lost via technical superiority to Turkey's Zeynep Yetgil, a two-time European Championships bronze medallist, to complete a forgettable day for India's wrestling contingent that had earlier watched Vinesh Phogat being disqualified for her gold medal bout after failing to make the weight in the 50kg division.

"I distinctly remember that the morale in the camp was down. There was this sense of disbelief. I won't say it played on my mind because wrestling, at the end of the day, is an individual sport. I certainly could have given a better account of myself," Panghal s...