Rome gold proof I’m on right track in Olympic year: Vinesh
NEWDELHI: Her ‘ground wrestling’ remains a work in progress but Vinesh Phogat on Saturday vowed that a gold medal performance in Rome shows she is on track in the Olympic year.
Competing in the first ranking series event of the season, Phogat defeated two tough Chinese rivals on her way to the 53kg gold medal bout where she overpowered Ecuador’s Luisa Elizabeth Valverde.
“Competing at an international event tests our training. It tells us whether we are moving in the right direction or not. This result shows we are on the right track since it’s a big year, an Olympic year,” Phogat, India’s big medal hope at the Tokyo Games, said from the Italian capital.
Phogat won on technical superiority against Ukraine’s Khrystyna Bereza (10-0) and China’s Luo Lannuan (15-5) before getting the better of Qianyu Pang (4-2) in the semi-finals.
“I competed with girls I had never wrestled before; against Qianyu Pang I was wrestling for the third time. It was important to know if her style had changed or not. These tournaments help in assessing yourself and the rivals.”
She was not troubled much by her rivals in Rome but Phogat said she still lags behind when it comes to scoring points from ground positions.
With personal coach Woller Akos, she has been trying to bring in changes and has made progress, but is still some distance from where they want to be.
“We worked on strength and stamina in three months of offseason.
Mat training began only in January. I mostly score points from standing wrestling and not much from ground wrestling. It’s not easy to change but compared to last January, I am much better, so the coaches are happy,” she said.
HOME AND AWAY
“In India, I score points from ground wrestling easily and against anyone, but at this level it’s difficult. The more I compete in these competitions the better for me. The training camps outside have helped me. Everything has changed since I switched the category.
“The training, food, technique, style, everything has undergone a huge change. Body takes time to adapt though the mind accepts.
But mind and body have to come together,” said the only woman wrestler to win a medal at the 2019 World Championships.
It’s been a year since Phogat started competing in the 53kg category, after dominating the 50kg division. She is gradually gaining the belief this is her category.
“In 50kg, I knew each and every rival. Now in 53kg also I have a fair idea against whom I have to use power and where I need to wrestle smartly. I can say 60 to 70 percent I am there.”
If her win against Bereza was about a spectacular double leg attack, the quarter-final win over Luo was much tougher than what the scoreline suggested.
Luo was a strong opponent, who led 5-2 at the end of first period but Phogat turned it around with smart point-scoring moves from nowhere in the second period.
Twice she threw Luo off guard with leg moves when the Chinese was holding her from behind.
Two wrestlers having immense upper body strength jostling for upper hand from a standing position was a sight to behold.
“The Ukraine girl was good, I had trained with her before coming here. The Chinese wrestlers were also good.
“Luo was still scoring points off me. I so wanted to compete against them because I had never grappled with them.”