Wrestling has always been India’s game. It has evolved greatly over the ages to secure its position as one of the top-most Olympic sports in India, and has produced several incredible athletes who have fetched India international recognition; these are phenomenal personalities who have performed remarkably at the very biggest stages.
Wrestling is one of the few sports in which the country has performed well at the Olympics. At the 2008 Beijing Games, India brought home three medals, one of them in wrestling. At the 2012 London Games, India hauled in a record-breaking tally of six medals, and two of them were again in wrestling.
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The August 5-21 Rio Games are almost upon us and this time, things have changed for the better.
While the Indian contingent has already set a record as the largest ever for the Olympics, the women's wrestling team has won the country three quotas and are on the verge of creating history. Yes, HISTORY!
The Indian women's team, the average age of which is 22, has undergone a gradual but steady rise. They have been doing exceptionally well on the international circuit and have produced breathtaking performances in the past one year.
Their entry into the Olympic fold is filled with a number of inspirational stories. I decided to visit Sports Authority of India, Lucknow where Sakshi Malik, Vinesh Phogat, and Babita Kumari are currently training under the watchful eyes of former Olympian and coach Kuldeep Malik.
The girls have been staying at the hostel inside the campus. Their day begins at 6 in the morning and training in the field triggers their disciplined routine.
The most exciting entry in Rio 2016 is that of Vinesh Phogat
Coming from a culture with strict ideologies about gender discrimination, the Phogat sisters would not have come this far without a push from their community. "I spent my teenage years doing something unthinkable – wrestling boys because they were tough competitors. Girls were not strong enough to compete in my school," said Vinesh.
Now, Vinesh is an Olympian. But it hasn't been an easy journey.
After getting disqualified at the penultimate qualifying event in Mongolia for being 400 gm overweight, the 21-year-old had assured the Wrestling Federation of India of clinching an Olympic berth for the country in the final qualifying event in Istanbul two weeks later.
Vinesh fulfilled her promise. She did book a berth.
Eyes firmly set on Rio, she said, "When I started wrestling, I was told that bringing home a medal from the Olympics can be the best thing that can happen to an athlete. After Geeta (her elder sister and the first Indian women wrestler to qualify for Olympics) qualified in 2012, I realized that even I can go there and fetch a medal."
The Commonwealth Games medalist has been competing with pride, in her country, in her family, in her sport and in herself. But there was a time when she thought of giving up.
"After Class 8, I had to leave school and go to Pune for my training. I wept a lot thinking about leaving my friends, family, and state. But my dad wanted to live his dreams through us. I could not have let him down. I know he expects bigger things from me," she said.
The face of women’s wrestling in India, Vinesh is indebted to the support she received from JSW. She added, "Another thing that keeps me going is the fact that I have JSW behind my back. They have done everything possible and I would like to give justice to what they have done for me."
She is not thinking about going to Rio anymore now. Rather, she wants to give India the medal they want.
India has so far seen three females bring home individual medals till date – Karnam Malleswari in weightlifting, Saina Nehwal in badminton and Mary Kom in boxing. Vinesh looks set to add her name to the list by getting the nation’s first medal in Indian women's wrestling.
"Kuch toh hoga alag is saal," concluded Vinesh.
Sakshi Malik is at her best with the wrestling fraternity looking up to her
Sakshi Malik did not have fancy training mats when she was growing up. But a lack of mats was the least of her problems.
What she had, however, was passion.
That was evident from her reaction after the Commonwealth Games silver medalist defeated China's Lan Zhang in the semi-finals of the final qualifying event for this year's Olympics in Istanbul.
Living under the shadows of Geeta Phogat, she gave India an Olympic slot in a category where the eldest of the Phogat sisters has dominated for the past few years.
"I was always inspired by Didi (Geeta Phogat). Her performances on the international stage have always been hugely inspiring. When she gave us a quota in 2012, we decided that in Rio 2016, we should have at least 5 quotas. Unfortunately, we got 3 slots. But it has been a wonderful journey so far," she said.
Sakshi, who replaced Geeta Phogat in the 58kg category after the veteran wrestler was handed a temporary suspension for forfeiting her bout in the previous qualifying tournament in Mongolia, justified her inclusion in Istanbul.
With Rio 2016 just two months away, the 23-year-old grappler from Haryana is leaving no stone unturned in her quest to glory.
She said, "To make an Olympic team is awesome and exciting. I’m just a step away from fulfilling my goal. I’m going to wrestle and give my 100 percent for the next 60 days. That’s it."
Given a choice to pick between academics and wrestling, it was the latter which she chose. And she doesn't regret it a bit, now that she is going to represent India in the greatest sporting event in the world.
Sharing her thoughts, she added, "All I can ask from the people of this country is that they can come forward and support us. They have done that in the past but now is the time when we need their 'dua'. Watch and support us and with your support, we can do wonders.”
"Aap humare saath do, hum aapko medal denge," Sakshi flashed a disarming smile.
Babita Kumari is concentrating all her energies on ensuring a podium finish for India
Babita Kumari is the third and final wrestler in this team who will be going to Rio. The 26-year-old from Haryana finished third at the Asian Wrestling Championships but booked an August date after Mongolia's Sumiya Erdenechimeg, the gold winner, tested positive.
"I was wrestling well, my body was in good shape but I somehow could not get over the line in Mongolia. But after Istanbul, when I got the news about me having won the quota, it was like a huge weight had lifted off my shoulders," she said.
Babita, another wrestler from the reputed Phogat family, added, "I always knew that I was good enough to compete with the best in the world. Now that I have a chance to demonstrate on the biggest stage of them all, I am not going to let anyone down."
How much have the five sisters contributed to her success? "Geeta was definitely a trailblazer. Vinesh has been doing very well and the others are also improving every day. With all of us being so close, we keep on pushing each other for that extra bit of effort. They constantly keep motivating me."
With so many prestigious titles to her name, winning an Olympic medal has always been a dream for the JSW-sponsored athlete.
Talking about JSW, Babita aptly remarked, summing up their support, "Nutrition, medical advice, injury prevention, training with the right coaches, travelling for international camps and exposure events all go a long way in bettering an athlete and the JSW Sports Excellence Program understands this and makes sure that we are well looked after."
As the 2014 Commonwealth Games gold-medalist prepares for the biggest competition of her life, she has only one goal – to succeed at the Olympics and see the tricolour flutter with pride.
The daughter of wrestler Mahavir Singh Phogat added, "When I get on the mat in Rio, I want to put up the very best performance that I can. I don’t want to have any regrets about my preparation and the way I fought. We have spent a lot of time and effort in reaching the Olympic stage and not giving it my all would be an injustice to the effort, hard work and sacrifices put in by me and people around me."
It is up to the three of them now to ensure that they give it all that they have and make the country proud.
Our wrestlers are as good as wrestlers of other countries: Coach Kuldeep Malik
Kuldeep Mailk has a lot of reasons to be happy. Not only have India’s female wrestling team won three Olympics slots, but under him, last year, Narsingh Yadav qualified for the Rio Olympics as well.
“Kuldeep Sir”, as his students call him, has himself learned through experiences.
He was the coach of the women's team when Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik, and Babita Kumar all clinched medals in the 2014 Commonwealth Games. In 2015, he was appointed as the coach of the men's team where he ensured Narsingh Yadav qualified for the Games.
But while he was taking the Indian men's team to greater heights, the Indian female wrestling team were constantly putting up disappointing performances.
They needed a leader, a fatherly figure and above all a coach. They needed Kuldeep Malik.
It was then that the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) sacked Vinod Kumar and appointed Kuldeep Malik again as the national freestyle women's wrestling coach. He immediately spoke about his immediate target which was to ensure at least four girls going to the Olympics.
India has three Olympic slots already. "I am a man of my words," he laughed.
Looking back on his contribution towards Indian wrestling, the Dhyanchandra awardee recalled, "It has been an immensely satisfying and challenging profession till now."
There is no doubt that Indian wrestling is on a sound footing.
He said, "The team is training hard and should be ready to fetch us at least a medal from the 2016 Olympics. These young girls have a steely determination to win a medal and that medals what all they aspire for."
"Vinesh is our best bet to get us a medal. If she can give us a good start, Babita and Sakshi can only increase the medal count," added the coach, currently employed with Northern Railway.
Kuldeep Malik is confident of India bagging medals in wrestling. Don't be surprised if one of them is gold.
‘I can do it’ is the motto of the team
Up until now, India only had Sushil Kumar and Yogeshwar Dutt as world-class wrestlers. But this year, the country has Sakshi Malik, Vinesh Phogat and Babita Kumari as potential medal winners.
With the amount of hard work they have put in and the determination they have to excel, it won't at all be a surprise if all three put up a spirited show in August.
This has been a historic year for India that has seen a shift in one of India's long-standing gender biases. Yes, women can wrestle.
