Malik first Indian woman in world wrestling final
LUCKNOW: Young wrestler Anshu Malik didn’t share anything about her loss at the Tokyo Olympics with childhood coach Jagdish when she returned to the sports school in Nidani village in Jind, Haryana to train again last month. It left the coach a little surprised as he wanted to know everything, but Anshu’s technique looked different then, attacking and even more tactical in training bouts.
On Wednesday, when the 20-year-old assured India of its first-ever medal (gold or silver) by becoming the first woman from the country to reach the final of a Wrestling World Championships on Wednesday, Jagdish was delighted. He now knows why Anshu was so attacking in training.
Anshu defeated Ukraine’s Solomiia Vynnyk by technical superiority in the 57kg semi-final category in the meet at Oslo. She had defeated Kazakhstan’s Nilufar Raimova by technical superiority and then defeated Mongolia’s Davaachimeg Erkhembayar 5-1 in the quarter-final.
Anshu, who comes from a family of wrestlers in Jind, dominated the bout from the start, taking a 2-0 lead within a minute with a takedown. She continued to press Solomiia with some aggressive play as the Ukrainian crumbled to go into the break 0-4 down. The break didn’t bring any change to Anshu’s attacking approach and she continued aggressively to close out the semi-final 11-0.
“She didn’t speak after the Tokyo Games, though I told her to be aggressive and attacking from the very start. Throughout the event this is what she is applying in her bouts at the World Championships,” said Jagdish, who has been training her since 2014. “She (Anshu) has always been a great learner and she never said no to my advice. I was a bit surprised when she didn’t say anything to me after Tokyo, but I feel that being a young wrestler she was a bit under pressure there. I am sure at the 2024 Paris Olympics, she will be altogether a different wrestler for the world.”
At the world championships, so far all five of India’s medals in the women’s section have been bronze—something Anshu has changed by reaching the final. The bronze medallists are Alka Tomar (2006), sisters Geeta and Babita Phogat (2012), Pooja Dhanda (2018) and Vinesh Phogat (2019).
In a repechage bout in the Tokyo Games, Anshu lost to Valeria Koblova of Russia 1-5. She had lost to World Cup gold medallist and double world medallist Iryna Kurachkina 8-2 in a first round bout. She made it to the repechage round after Kurachkina reached the final.
Anshu has made a name for herself in 57kg by winning two Asian championships medals, a gold and a Ranking Series silver medal. Since winning her first international medal, bronze at the World Cadet Championship in 2016, Anshu has notched up wins against world champion Linda Morais, European and U23 world champion Grace Bullen, Veronika Chumikova and Evelina Nikolava.
“Anshu has made our family proud today and I am sure she will finish on top,” her father Dharanveer Malik said. “I couldn’t reach that level ever when I was doing wrestling but today I feel really proud that my daughter is taking the wrestling legacy of our family forward.”
Sarita beats champion
PTI ADDS: The seasoned Sarita Mor shocked defending champion Linda Morais on her way to entering the semifinals in 59kg. The Asian champion had a tough opening bout against the 2019 world champion from Canada but claimed a tactical 8-2 win in the pre-quarterfinals. Sarita, with a quick takedown and tight defence, led 7-0 in the first period. The only point she conceded was a takedown move in the second period as she prevented Linda from playing her game by keeping her in locks.
Her quarterfinal win over Germany’s Sandra Paruszewski was a nervy affair. There was just one point-scoring move, a late takedown by Sarita to seal victory. She will face Bulgarian European champion Bilyana Zhivkova Duodova for a place in the final.
In 72kg, Divya Kakran stunned Kseniia Burakova with a ‘win by fall’ before losing by technical superiority to Japan’s Under-23 world champion Masako Furuich in the quarterfinals. The 2020 Asian Champion fought her heart out but hurried moves and too much aggression cost her the bout. In 76kg, Kiran
won a repechage round against Turkey’s Aysegul Ozbege to reach the bronze play-off while Pooja Jatt (53kg) lost her repechage by fall to Ecuador’s Luisa Elizabeth Melendres.
Ritu Malik (68kg) lost to Ukraine’s Anastasiia Lavrenchuk in the qualification bout that lasted 15 seconds. Ritu seemed to be injured.