BENGALURU: Just a few days remain for Commonwealth Games 2018, where wrestler Vinesh Phogat will strive for excellence. The Haryana wrestler will look to win her second CWG gold medal, and she might be even more motivated after the horrific knee injury she suffered at Rio Olympics 2016.Injuries are part and parcel of any athlete’s life and it was just extremely unfortunate that the injury struck her on the biggest platform. Now, the 23-year-old has set her eyes on 2020 Tokyo Olympics, but events like CWG will help her understand where she stands. “Whatever has happened, it is a thing of the past. The pain (of missing out on the Olympic medal) has somehow decreased now.
Now, I am confident and have prepared well for CWG, both mentally and physically. I want to give my best. I hope to stand up to people’s expectations. What I could not achieve in Rio, I will try to achieve that in Tokyo, and the start of which will take shape from CWG,” Vinesh told. This quadrennial event is important for the wrestler, who was out of action for almost nine months due to injury. She underwent surgery and the rehabilitation process would have made it painful for Vinesh to stay away from the sport. The Asian Wrestling Championships (AWC) 2017 in Delhi was one of the first big events she participated post-injury, and collected silver in the 55kg category. She followed it with gold in the National Wrestling Championship. Vinesh shifted her weight category to 50 kg for AWC 2018 and again won silver. It has been a good comeback, and the Haryanvi has already worked on improving her skills.
“This time, I have worked on my moves, trying to do that swiftly. With the attacks in the 50 kg category expected to be fast, I have also tried to improve my reaction speed. I have also worked on g my single leg technique,” said Vinesh.Vinesh has already chalked out a mini plan though her focus is solely on the CWG presently. After CWG, she wants to shine at the Asiad and the World Championships. It is apt for Vinesh
to start with CWG before other events like the Asiad and Worlds as the upcoming event will give her a fair idea as to where she needs to improve. Also, Asiad and Worlds are far more challenging.
“CWG will be my target now, but after that it will be the Asian Games, as I will mostly be competing with the same athletes in Tokyo 2020 as well. There is the World Championships too and I do not have any medal in that. I will want to win that before I go for the Olympics. But, presently I am thinking one competition at a time. If I just think about Olympics alone, I will forget about other events and I do not want that to happen.” Besides Vinesh, there are some brilliant female wrestlers heading Down Under for CWG, including Babita Kumari, Sakshi Malik and others, who are major contenders for India. The entire contingent will be keen to put up a show and further strengthen their grip in world wrestling.