Lucknow: One could sense the excitement in the air at the Sports Authority of India facilities here on Monday when three-time Commonwealth Games champion Vinesh Phogat arrived at the venue earlier than most of her juniors for the Wrestling Federation of India’s (WFI) trials for the World Championships.
The 28-year-old decorated athlete arguably had a point to prove against a 17-year-old Antim Pangal, who gave her senior rival a tough time during the CWG trials back in May.
Vinesh had to use all her experience to clinch the bout by the virtue of picking the last point as the contest ended 3-3. Vinesh’s three points came in the last 15 seconds but wasn’t convincing enough for the stature of the undisputed queen of the 53kg category.
Monday’s bout, in fact, couldn’t have asked for a better plot set up to the climax as both Vinesh and Antim, who became the first Indian girl to win the U-20 Worlds gold medal, reached the trials scripting histories.
However all those doubts were laid to rest at the SAI centre on Monday when a seasoned Vinesh put a daylight between her and Antim with a dominant 7-0 win.
Functioning as a well-oiled machinery with her movements being too quick for her inexperienced opponent to grab, Vinesh showcased why she is the quintessential queen of Indian wrestling.
“It was a satisfying performance from a personal perspective as I felt I have peaked well this season,” said Vinesh after the bout. “If I compare this performance with the last trials, I was in much better shape today while in May the season was just starting for me and getting challenged by a new opponent left me confused.”
Praising a talent like Antim, Vinesh felt it was her years of experience that proved to be decisive against the teenager.
“Just looking at today’s result, it will be wrong to say she is not good. She’s actually a very strong wrestler and today it was my experience that helped me got better off her,” said Vinesh.
How Vinesh prepped for the bout
However, it would be wrong to assume that it was the 2019 World Championship bronze medallist’s sheer experience and intensity got her over the line. Taking the bout seriously, Vinesh did all the homework she could on Antim before the bout.
“Vinesh was very aggressive today and that’s because of the criticism she faced after the last trials,” said WFI women’s chief coach Jitendra Singh. “There was further psychological pressure on her after Antim won the U-20 gold medal and that’s why she never took the preparations lightly. Vinesh watched all the videos of Antim’s bouts this year and studied her moves as her homework.”
The star wrestler showed what it means to be an international wrestler as she gave away no freebies during the two trials she competed in.
Speaking of her performance, Vinesh admitted she has peaked well for the season as she never felt tired after bouts.
“I was personally pleased with my performance because I felt I was recovering well after every bout. Never felt that I am getting tired in between or after the bouts. It shows that I have peaked well for the season,” said Vinesh.
‘CWG wasn’t enough, World is the big prize’
Most of the women’s medallist at the CWG, including Rio Olympic bronze medallist Sakshi Malik, seemed to be content with their success for the year and gave Monday’s trials a miss. Being scheduled right after the CWG didn’t help the case either but Vinesh was determined about her ambitions for the season.
And for someone, who has been for a long seen as arguably the best women’s wrestler in the country, it’s not hard to guess why she took the risk to participate in Monday’s trials. Just one World Championship medal and and alluding Olympic success, can’t be enough for the cousin of the Dangal-famed Phogat sisters.
Vinesh affirmed the same, saying World Championship is the biggest prize of the season.
“Commonwealth Games is important but it was never the biggest prize of the season. And For someone, who has a senior career of 10 years, just one World Championship medal (2019 in Nur Sultan) can’t be satisfying. I have 4-5 years of wrestling left in me and I want to win as many medals at big tournaments as possible in this period so that by the time I leave the sport, I feel satisfied,” said Vinesh.
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