JOIN USFearless Vinesh ready to rock
It is tough to bracket Vinesh Phogat. The free-spirited freestyle wrestler has rarely been attracted to conventions. Be it in her choice of profession or her blunt and definitive approach, she has stood against the norms defined for women from Indian villages.
“I am absolutely dabang (fearless) and prefer to be that way,” the beaming 21-year-old described herself as she gears up to take her maiden Olympic journey.
However, beneath the exuberance of her youth, Vinesh nurses a solemn vow. As her eyes scan the expanse of the Sports Authority of India, Sonepat wrestling hall, she is quick to point out at the inferior facilities that women wrestlers are provided with at training centre at Lucknow. There is no bitterness though, only a solution pacing in her mind.
“People say that men and women wrestling is equal but I know no one believes this from heart,” she said. “And it is because, the men wrestlers have got Olympic medals and women have not. Once we get it, I am sure there will be equality. We will be in a better position to demand. I want our performance to bring a change in the hearts of people,” Vinesh, who would be representing India in 48 kg, told Deccan Herald.
In her pursuit of an Olympic medal, Vinesh appears strikingly confident. She lost her father early but was trained by her uncle (her father’s elder brother), Mahavir Singh, the father of famous Phogat sisters - Geeta and Babita. Since childhood, Vinesh has nursed a deep scorn for defeat.
“We have never known what’s a defeat. In my school also, I would bash up the boys. I was never beaten,” she proudly recalled.
Vinesh grabbed the spotlight by winning gold medal in the 2014 Commonwealth Games and followed by clinching bronze in the Asian Games. She won silver in 2015 Asian Championships and qualified for the Rio Games by winning gold medal in the last qualifying event in Turkey. But before that, she had to face embarrassment of disqualification in Olympic qualifying event in Mongolia due to overweight.
As you cautiously poke at the topic, Vinesh would stop you short. “Look that was completely my mistake. It is good that it happened and thankfully in a qualification event. If it happened in Rio, then? I have learned my lessons,” she put it straight.
Aggression has been Vinesh’s strength in wrestling too. In fact, she is on a constant voyage of self-improvement. Does the thought of competing in maiden Olympics put some pressure? Again, she answered it with an unrestrained display of self-belief. “When I was born my mother was convinced about one thing, that I will do something in my life. I am not nervous. Pressure makes me perform better,” she said.
“That is what I learnt from my interaction with Sachin Tendulkar. He told me it was important that people expect from you and that it should motivate you to do well.”
The run-up to the Olympics has been productive for her. She had been supported by the TOPS as well as JSW which ensured there were sufficient exposure trips.
“It also took care a lot of things like shoes and physios. I got more competitions than I had expected. “
Vinesh is now focused on improving her defence. “I have a problem in one leg. Players know that. My aim is that I shouldn’t let an opponent to that point. I have also been doing research on top 3-4 girls about what competitions they are participating in, on their technique, the margin of their win or loss. I have also spoken to Yogeshwar Dutt to help me perfect his trademark move ‘fitele’ (leg-twisting technique).
“My main competition will be from the Asian countries. Our thinking and techniques match. And when there is so much similarity, it comes down to whose brain runs faster on the mat. And I am a risk taker. My defence is my attack and that is my advantage.”
At the end of the day, Vinesh dreams to follow on the footstep of her idol, Sushil Kumar. “You know, I want to boost the confidence of young girls through my performance. Just the way Sushil Kumar did for all of us,” she added.