CHENNAI: The enormity of the situation might be different but for a few minutes 16-year-old Rohini Khanu Devba would have felt what wrestler Vinesh Phogat experienced after returning 100 grams overweight ahead of her 50kg final bout at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Vinesh did her best to make the weight but it didn't help and was disqualified, robbing her of a historic Olympic medal.
For Rohini, a place in the national team for the U17 World Championships was at stake but exactly like Vinesh her weight was 100 grams above the permissible limits. She had enrolled to compete in the 36kg-40kg weight category at the selection trials held at Sonepat, Haryana on Monday to pick the team for the worlds scheduled to be held in Baku, Azerbaijan from July 27 to August 2. Daughter of a herdsman from Maharashtra, Rohini didn't want to miss the opportunity and requested her coach to chop off her hair with scissors to shed the extra ounces.
Fortunately for her, she not only made the weight but also won the trials to make it to the Indian squad. "There was no way she was going to miss the event because of 100 grams. She decided in a few minutes and we cut off her hair," Sandeep Patil, who has been coaching Rohini since 2021 at his NIS Wrestling Centre, Donawade (Kolhapur). Rohini fought four bouts including the final where she defeated Vanshika from Haryana to book her place in the team.
The wrestler from Pattan Kodoli village of Kolhapur district has already won a gold (33kg) and a silver medal (36kg) at the U15 Asian Championships in 2024 and 2025 respectively but she never competed at the Worlds and is desperate to add a medal to her trophy cabinet from the prestigious championships.
"Her father is from the Dhangar community. Like other members from his community, Rohini's father Khanu Devba grazes goats and roams from one village to another for months. He has four children (three daughters and a son) and Rohini is the eldest. The village is known for wrestling and Rohini started off by training under a local coach before winning the district trials and moving to my academy," added the coach.
A few days before the trials, Rohini took part in the U17 National Open Ranking Tournament held at the Nandini Nagar Mahavidyalaya in Gonda, Uttar Pradesh but the weight category was different. "She competed in the 46kg at the Gonda event but lost. In order to compete in the 46kg, a wrestler has to be around 48kg before shedding the extra kilos during the weigh-in. But Rohini's problem is that she cannot gain weight above 45kg. So we decided to take part in the selection trials in the 36kg-40kg. She lost five kilos in the last few days but that didn't prove enough during the weigh-in that's why we decided to cut off her hair," informed Patil.
Given the modest background of his ward, Patil has been bearing all the expenses of Rohini since 2021. And if that is not enough, he is ready to mortgage a small piece of land he owns to make sure the young wrestler competes at the international tournaments including the Olympics. "I have told her parents not to worry about her. If the situation arises, I will mortgage my land but never let the financial constraints derail her journey. She is also good at studies and secured 78 per cent marks in class X recently. The only thing she needs at the moment is some kind of financial backing and as many international tournaments as possible," Patil signed off.
Making it to the team by cutting off the hair seems to be the first step and Rohini does know it. A medal at the U17 worlds would be the next step towards their goal for Rohini and her coach as they are aiming for sky at the moment.