New Delhi: As she along with Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik led the protests against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, the ousted president of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), Vinesh Phogat has become one of the most hated sportspersons in the country, facing online abuse daily from a section of the netizens.
She was vilified when she raised her voice against some of the moves by the WFI, and she was abused when she came down from 53 kg weight class to 50 kg and participated in two weight categories in the trials seeking guarantees from WFI officials. With the tacit support of the administrators, Vinesh was painted as a villain who was trying to gain favours and a backdoor entry into the team.
Even her own cousins had turned against Vinesh as a section of the media and netizens went after the two-time Olympian, depicting her as a spent force who is always depending on her past achievements.
On Tuesday, the 29-year-old grappler from Haryana silenced her critics and abusers with two brilliant performances that took her into the semifinals of the women’s 50kg weight class at the Paris Olympic Games.
Vinesh first upset World No.1 Yui Susaki of Japan in the pre-quarterfinal and got the better of Ukraine’s Oksana Vasylivna Livach 7-5 in the last-eight stage to storm into the semifinals.
The former World No.1 in 48kg weight made a stunning debut in the 50kg class in the Olympics with a shocking win against four-time World Champion and Tokyo Olympic Games bronze medallist Yui Susaki of Japan.
Playing against the undisputed queen in 50 kg, Vinesh defended strongly, not allowing the Japanese grappler a chance to attack and effect a take-down. She was twice penalised a point each for passivity but did not lose her cool. She launched a lightning-fast attack in the last 20 seconds and made a take-down to gain three points and win the bout.
An hour later, Vinesh quelled the challenge of Ukraine’s Oksana Vasylivna Livach 7-5 in her second bout of the day.
Vinesh took an initial lead of 2-0 in the first period of the match against Oksana, who won her first bout 10-0 on technical superiority. The second period was a bit challenging for Vinesh as Oksana fought back and took a 2-pointer after the Indian grappler had stretched her lead to 4-0 with two minutes and two seconds remaining in the match.
Vinesh recovered quickly to counter and got one more point to her name to take the lead 5-2. In the last few seconds of the bout, the Ukrainian attacked fiercely but Vinesh managed to hold on to her defence and counter-attacked to get a 2-pointer via technical superiority.
But life before the Paris Olympic Games was quite tough for Vinesh as every move of hers was questioned and disputed as she had stood against the regimen and supported the wrestlers in their protest against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh for alleged sexual harassment of young female wrestlers.
Vinesh was one of the three Olympians who sat in protest along with many young wrestlers against Brij Bhushan at the Jantar Mantar in New Delhi for months before they were forcefully removed by Delhi Police and detained. Vinesh along with Sakshi and Bajrang Punia was pilloried and abused by supporters of the regimen and even returned the awards she had received from the government as part of her protest.
So, despite a lack of preparations, Vinesh came through the trials for the Asian Olympic Qualifiers, participating in two weight categories within a day. It was felt that she was trying to avoid Antim Phangal, a strong candidate in 53 kg. Vinesh lost to Anju in the semifinal in 53 kg but emerged as champion in the 50kg weight class. She qualified for Paris through the Olympic Qualifiers.
But the two-time World Championship bronze medallist had suffered setbacks in the previous Olympics too.
Vinesh sprung into the spotlight in the 2016 Rio Olympics when she was leading Sun Yanan of China in the Women’s 48 kg quarterfinals but had to bid a tearful adieu because of a career-threatening anterior cruciate ligament tear in her knee.
However, Vinesh, who comes from a family of famous women wrestlers with cousins who have won medals at the Commonwealth Games and Asian Championships, recovered from her injury and after gold medal-winning performances in the 2018 Commonwealth Games and Asian Games, qualified for the Tokyo Olympic Games, which were postponed by a year and held in 2021. However, her second campaign in the Olympics was disappointing as she made an early exit.
Participating in the women’s 53 kg in the Tokyo Olympics, she lost to Vanesa Kaladzinskaya in the quarterfinal. Her stay in the tournament came to an end after Kaladzinskaya lost in the semifinal, ending repechage hopes for the Indian.
Soon after the Olympics, Vinesh was suspended by the WFI for indiscipline as she had refused to train with her Indian teammates at the Olympics Village and had not worn the official Indian kit at the Olympics. Phogat issued an apology to the WFI and was picked for international tournaments but lost her contract with JSW Sport as the WFI banned all private deals signed by wrestlers as they impacted their preparations for international competitions.
Her disappointment was compounded by a subsequent elbow surgery, which sidelined her from competition for a significant period. However, Vinesh came back into focus again when she clinched a bronze medal at the World Wrestling Championships in Belgrade and the gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
In a career spanning over a decade, Vinesh has won many medals and titles for the country including bronze medals in the 2019 and 2022 World Championships, gold medals in three successive Commonwealth Games editions, bronze in the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon and gold in Jakarta four years later besides several medals in the Asian Championships.
But it is at the Paris Olympic Games that she finally had her redemption, coming up with a performance worth remembering despite odds in the build-up.
–IANS