For Vinesh Phogat, living up to that statement began early in the morning, merely minutes into the proceedings of the selection trials for the Asian Olympic qualifiers and Asian Championships at NIS Patiala on Monday, on a day of dramatic events.
At the centre of the storm was Vinesh, who started the day by weighing in for the 50kg Olympic weight category and shocked most who expected her to compete in her usual 53kg event. She also insisted that she wanted to be a part of the 53 kg trial, and essentially fight in two different weight classes.
Her proclamation led to all eight draws being made public, except the 50kg and 53kg lists. It led to a three-hour delay during which athletes complained to the organisers that the interruption was providing more recovery time for certain athletes. One of those athletes with the grudge was 50kg wrestler Mamata Rani, who lost to Phogat on Monday and said that the extra time between bouts was giving an advantage to the two-time World Championship bronze medallist.
“The 50kg trials got delayed and instead of starting matches at 10 AM, they started matches at 1PM. It gives an athlete who comes from a higher weight category more time to recover and that recovery means their weight is higher when the bout starts,” said Rani.
While there is a case to be made that Phogat would have regained plenty of water weight lost during recovery, the same three hours were available to other wrestlers as well, who likely would have made similar gains.
The Haryana wrestler, on her part though, was clinical in her bouts on Monday. She won her first two contests, one in each weight category, with ease. She continued to win her 50kg matches, while giving a bye in the 53kg fight as well as conceding an eight-second loss by technical superiority in the next fight.
The 53kg category was a round-robin format and all Vinesh needed was one win to ensure that she would be among the top four wrestlers in the class. In the space of a few bouts, she had ensured top spot in the lower weight class as well as manoeuvred a way into contending for the quota spot won by Antim Panghal, should that opportunity arise.
Essentially, Vinesh’s chances to go to Paris would depend on her performances rather than external factors. The ad hoc committee had told her that she would have the chance to compete for the Paris Olympics Games 53kg quota if she met the criteria through the trials held on Monday. But not knowing which side would be at the helm prompted Phogat to compete in both weight categories.
“I had no clarity about the 53kg quota situation whether there would be trials or not. Usually, the quota is won by the country but they hadn’t held trials before. They (ad hoc committee) said that wouldn’t be the case this time. I had no other option but to do this because I have to participate in the Olympics,” said the 29-year-old after the trials, confirming that the decision to take part in the 50 kg weight class was to ensure that her Paris Olympics prospects remained in her own hands and not of any administration or federation official.
Vinesh’s decision to participate in two categories raised its fair share of questions, the chief one being whether the move was breaking any rules. But according to Bhupender Singh Bajwa, the ad-hoc committee chairman, an expert had been consulted and it was confirmed that the rules that stated an athlete could only participate in one weight category were meant for competitions and not trials.
“We have made it clear that the committee will resolve any dispute that arises from the selection trials. She (Vinesh) requested to be a part of two weight classes. Since these were the trials, we accepted. If this was a competition situation, we wouldn’t have made the same decision. They wanted the trial to be held over two days but we didn’t have an extra day available,” said Bajwa when asked whether any rules were broken.
Akos return
Longtime coach of Vinesh Phogat, Voller Akos has returned to the camp and has been working with her for the past month. Vinesh said that the move was already paying dividends with her technique getting fine-tuned in just a short period of time.
“He has been back for a month. It’s almost like my game has changed again. Sometimes athletes aren’t able to push the most crucial parts of our training. Technique-wise, I tried my best to continue learning as best as I could. But a coach teaching you moves on the mat and breaking down footage of opponents’ wrestling matches is really important. In one month since he’s been here, the graph of my wrestling has changed. You could see the difference in my wrestling today,” said Vinesh.
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