A year ago, around this time, the world was enjoying the biggest sporting extravaganza — the Olympic Games. But for India, the Rio Games had turned out to be a forgettable outing of near misses, underwhelming performances, off-field drama and overall failure. The shooters had failed to deliver in the opening week while the leading tennis players of the country, after some unsavoury controversy in the build-up, could not produce their best.
While shuttler PV Sindhu was going all guns blazing, knocking off her opponents at will to keep India’s hopes of getting a medal at the quadrennial event alive at one end, the nation shifted its focus to a discipline that had guaranteed medals in the previous two editions — wrestling. Competing in the 58kg women’s freestyle division, Sakshi Malik was the first to take centrestage with a chance to salvage some pride for the Indian contingent.
“Thoda pressure tha. Mood bhi thoda down tha (There was pressure. The mood was not good),” says Sakshi recalling the biggest night of her career. “But I chose not to think about anything other than my bout.”
With a bronze medal at stake in the final repechage bout, the Indian needed a solid start if she had to have any chance against the beast in Aisuluu Tynybekova of Kyrgyzstan. But that was not to be as Sakshi was down 0-5 within no time. Just when it looked like all hopes had faded, in a sudden turn of events, the 24-year-old from Haryana recovered strongly. A takedown in the dying seconds against the then reigning Asian champion sealed the win and breathed fresh life into the Indian campaign. “For a moment I couldn’t believe that I had done it. That I had won an Olympic medal,” she says. “But slowly the feeling sunk in. It had always been my dream to win a medal at the Olympics, and that had come true. I still find it difficult to explain those moments in words.”
Even today, the 24-year-old thinks about her Rio bouts. Though getting a bronze medal around her neck remains the highlight, she often dwells on the moments she could have done better. “I still think of the bouts I had,” she says. “Yaar yeh kya kar diya maine (what did I do). I could have stayed back, let her come to me. Why did I hurry?, and so on. I think about how differently I could have approached the bouts.”
In an earlier interview, she had also confessed that the Rio experience had made her realise her shortcomings. “Going to Rio, I was very raw. I had some knowledge of the sport. But going there and wrestling against the best in the world made me realise how much more could be done to win. It was no longer about attack or defence or counter, it showed various ways in which a wrestler could force the opponent to commit a mistake,” said the athlete who is supported by JSW’s Sports Excellence programme.
However, it’s not just the shortcomings that Sakshi spotted at the Rio Games. The talented grappler also realised an hidden talent of never giving up. “I am a little stubborn, but not as much as I was that day (during that bronze medal bout),” she says. “It looked certain that I was losing. But I didn’t give up. Winning or losing was not the point. I wanted to put up a good fight. And thankfully things turned in my favour.”
Sakshi has now moved on to bigger challenges. From being a face hidden behind the much celebrated figure of Geeta Phogat to being the new face of women’s wrestling in the country, it has been a drastic turnaround for the wrestler.
“Things have changed a lot,” she confesses. “From being no one to being called the face of Indian wrestling, a lot has happened in the past one year for me. I feel good that my hard work and achievements are being noticed and rewarded. That pushes me to work hard. It motivates me. And now, every time there’s a wrestling event everyone expects me to win a medal. So, the expectations have also gone up and I have to be ready for that.”
Rising expectations come with the baggage of pressure and things have been no different in Sakshi’s case. “I would be lying that I don’t feel the pressure,” she says. “Being an Olympic medallist people expect me to deliver at every meet. But I try not to be bothered about that. I want to give my best.”
Up next for this young champion is the World Championships that’s gets underway in Paris later this month. And Sakshi is all pumped up to deliver on her promise. “I have been waiting for this for some time. Last time, at the Asian Championships, things didn’t go according to plan. Though I got silver, I was hoping for more. But then, I didn’t train much before the championships and that showed in the final (against Risako Kawai of Japan). But this time, things are different. I have put in a lot of hard work and I hope it pays.”
Published 23 August 2017, 09:42 IST