The most painful moment of her career was telecast live to millions around the world. Come Tokyo, Vinesh Phogat would hope that, this time, the cameras catch her at her happiest.
At the 2016 Rio Olympics, Phogat had to be stretchered out of her quarterfinal bout because of a knee injury. She left the arena in tears.
Five years later, Phogat is world number one, has won her three previous major tournaments and is seeded first in the 53kg category at Tokyo.
In a media interaction organised by the Sports Authority of India earlier this year, Phogat said: “I am more mature now. I do not take [expectations] as seriously anymore. I want to wrestle for myself, for fun.”
Though her recent run has been impressive, her gold at the Asian Championships in Kazakhstan in April was a little less shiny because of the absence of her strongest rivals—the Japanese Mayu Mukaida and Chinese Qianyu Pang. Phogat had wanted to gauge their preparation before the Olympics, but was left with a depleted field en route to her first gold at the tournament. While she has beaten Pang in the past, Mukaida has won their past three face-offs.
Phogat said that she and her Hungarian coach, Woller Akos, have been working on Mukaida-specific strategies, including focusing on the ground game. “Earlier, I was always attacking and tended to make mistakes,” she said on her training with Akos. “Now I have learnt how to time my attacks. I used to think only those who are afraid study their opponents. But I now know that you first have to read the wrestler. We are working on that for every opponent. I am smoother now, not in a hurry.”
Phogat may be leading the pack, but youngsters Anshu Malik and Sonam Malik are hungry to prove their worth. Anshu (57kg) struck gold at the Asian Championships this year. In six international events on the senior circuit, she has won five medals. The 19-year-old Sonam (62kg) is the youngest Indian women’s wrestler to qualify for the Olympics.
Phogat said it was important for them to get this chance, but their inexperience might stop them from reaching the podium.
The youngsters might take exception to that. Sonam has beaten Rio Olympics bronze-medallist Sakshi Malik four times in as many meetings. And, given that the two teens have nothing to lose, they will be champing at the bit to make a splash in Tokyo.
The oldest Indian woman in the fray, 29-year-old Seema Bisla (50kg), will also be keen to prove that she is made for the big stage. Having had poor outings in the 2018 and 2019 World Championships, she won the bronze at the 2021 Asian Championships and seems to have finally hit her stride.
Bajrang Punia | Sameer A. Hameed
On the men’s side, Phogat’s cousin-in-law leads the charge. Bajrang Punia—who recently married Phogat's cousin Sangeeta—is entering his first Olympics with a formidable reputation. The grappler, managed by JSW Sports, is seeded number two in Tokyo and is the only Indian to have won three World Championship medals. “This my first Olympics and it is special for me,” he told THE WEEK. “Having said that, one cannot enter a competition thinking of all the medals one has won in past competitions. I approach every competition in the same way, and the Olympics will be the same.”
His 65kg category is dense with talent, be it top seed Gadzhimurad Rashidov from Russia, the Japanese Takuto Otoguro or the Kazakh Daulet Niyazbekov. “65kg is the toughest category right now; there are 12 to 13 elite wrestlers,” he told THE WEEK. “On their day, each of them can defeat the other. So, I am not focusing on any individual competitor. The wrestler that shows the most determination and has God’s blessings will win.”
If there is any weakness in Bajrang’s game, it is that he gives away early points. Though he has the skill to recover, a stage like the Olympics may not offer too much room to regroup. “People have been saying that my leg defence is weak, but I have worked on that with the help of my coaches and have not lost any point in the past few matches,” he said.
Injuries, however, are a concern. Bajrang had to pull out of the final of the Ali Aliyev tournament in Russia in June because of an injury to his right knee. Though he later said that it was not serious, this was the second time this year he had withdrawn from a final because of injury. In April, he had skipped the anticipated Asian Championships final against Otoguro because of an injured elbow.
Bajrang had lost to Otoguro in their two previous bouts—at the World and Asian Championships—and could meet him again at the Olympics, this time on his home ground.
If Otoguro is on Bajrang’s mind, young Deepak Punia (86kg) would have Hassan Yazdani on his. Deepak, 22, is seeded second behind world champion Yazdani, and had lost to him on technical inferiority in the Asian Championships final this year. He had earlier pulled out of the 2019 World Championships final against Yazdani because of an injury.
Coach Virender Kumar has said that Deepak has laid those ghosts to rest and has a plan. Deepak is the youngest Indian wrestler to reach the final of the World Championships; he won silver in 2019. He was also the world junior champion in 2019.
Going into Tokyo, though, Deepak might be undercooked; he has not had much international competition and had to pull out of the recent Poland Open because of an injury.
Ravi Dahiya, seeded fourth in the 57kg category, rounds out the men’s squad. The 23-year-old had won bronze at the 2019 World Championships and the Asian Championships gold in 2020 and 2021. The shy Dahiya, who has often flown under the radar, also clinched silver at the recent Poland Open.
His seeding also means that Dahiya will meet two-time world champion Zaur Uguev—who beat him at the 2019 World Championships—late in the event. He could be the dark horse in India’s squad.
In 2016, Phogat had rolled into Rashtrapati Bhavan on a wheelchair to receive her Arjuna Award. If she were to go again, she would hope to walk up to the president, this time with a bigger smile.