Antim Panghal starved for 48 hours to lose weight ahead of bout at Paris Olympics

NEW DELHI: Barely hours after Vinesh Phogat was disqualified from the Paris Olympics came another shocker for the Indian wrestling camp - Antim Panghal, touted as a probable medal winner in the women's 53kg division, - crashed out after suffering a humiliating 10-0 defeat against Turkey's Zeynep Yetgil in her opening bout on Wednesday.

It has now come to light that Antim starved herself for 48 hours ahead of her bout to pass the weigh-in. Antim didn't eat a morsel of food and had minimum water intake, leaving her body weak and completely dehydrated.

Antim was overweight ahead of her bout and wanted her masseur and dietician, sister Nisha, to manage her meal intake. Since Nisha was staying outside the village as she wasn't part of the official contingent, Antim was virtually left on her own to manage the weight. The starvation left Antim bereft of energy when she took the mat against Yetgil and it was no surprise that she lost tamely.