Vinesh wants a foreign coach
Wrestler says Indian coaches are good but not great enough to help win at Olympics
LUCKNOW: Jakarta Asian Games gold-medallist in wrestling, Vinesh Phogat, feels Indian coaches are not good enough to produce Olympic champions.
Speaking on the sidelines of a felicitation function orgainsed by the Sports Authority of India (SAI), Vinesh said, “Indian coaches are giving results. But for an event like the Olympics, where the level of competition is very high, we need foreign coaches who can plan each day and discuss every aspect of our game like speed, stamina and strength besides technique.”
Winner of gold medals at the 2014 and 2018 Commonwealth Games, Vinesh who clinched the top spot in Jakarta in the 50kg category, said she was scouting for a personal coach in a bid to bring home a medal from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
“Hungarian Waller Ako helped me fill the gap (before the Asian Games) and gave me some useful lessons. Those instructions mattered a lot in Jakarta. I feel that in order to win an Olympic medal, I’ll need the help of a personal coach like Waller.
“Before the Asian Games, I went to Hungary and overcame the shortcomings. My gold at the Spanish Grand Prix was the result of that training. If I get the same training over the next two years, I will certainly win an Olympic medal,” said Vinesh, bronze medallist at the 2014 Incheon Games.
Vinesh said her heart-breaking loss at the 2016 Rio Olympics had taught her many things. “I used to play aggressive, and I paid the price for it in Rio. Now, I know how to challenge a rival. Even in the final at the Asian Games, I held myself for long in crunch situations.”
At the felicitation ceremony, Vinesh was in her elements, celebrating her victory with Asian Games bronze medallist Divya Kakran her cousin Geeta Phogat, the 2010 Commonwealth Games gold medallist.
Vinesh said, on many occasions she had entertained the thought of giving up the sport due to the punishing training regimen.
“Several times, I thought of quitting the sport after a tough training session. But I did not want to let people down who had faith in my abilities… so I started training with passion and zeal.”
Aiming for her maiden medal at the World Championships at Budapest from October 20-28, Vinesh said she would like to finish the season on a high. “I would like to win my first gold at Budapest and finish the season in style. This is my biggest aim for the season.”
FORMER INDIA FOOTBALLER DEAD
KOLKATA: Former India forward Sukalyan Ghosh Dastidar died at a city hospital on Sunday after a massive heart attack. He was 71 and survived by wife and two daughters. Ghosh Dastidar was part of the 1970 Asian Games squad that won bronze, India’s last medal in football at the Asian Games. He represented both Mohun Bagan and East Bengal in the late 1960s to the mid 1970s.