CHENNAI: It has all the markings of a movie script straight out of Bollywood. The romance of triumph of the lesser-known over a bigger, bolder and famous adversary is vivid in the plot. A teenaged girl from a Haryana village, Sonam Malik, called to trials just a couple of days ago, stunned Rio Games bronze medallist Sakshi Malik on Saturday during the trials for the Asian championships and the Asian Olympic qualifiers.
And the winning throw came with just seconds left on the clock! The tie (10-10) went in her favour due to the last point won. Later, she beat Radhika in the final. Sonam was at her home in Madina village of Haryana’s Sonepat when she received a call from Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) on Thursday evening. Thus began a long trip — first by road to New Delhi followed by a flight to Lucknow.
“The WFI officials told me that I have been selected for the selection trials in Lucknow on Saturday morning,” she told this daily. “It took me around six hours to reach Lucknow where I could only have a warm-up session in the evening due to time constraint.”
Despite her being a two-time World Cadet champion, Sonam has never competed in the senior category before. Add to it, the 17-year-old was in the 62kg weight category, the division where the country’s only female Olympic medallist wrestler Sakshi Malik competes. “I had competed against senior wrestlers like Ritu Malik in Haryana’s dangal but never had a face-off with any of them in an official competition. It helped me in a way as I did not think about the name.”
Sakshi’s Olympic hopes hang by a thread
Rio bronze-medallist Sakshi Malik’s Olympic hopes now rest on Sonam not making the cut at the Asian qualifiers. If Sonam fails to do so, Sakshi can still contest the world Olympic qualifiers and secure a berth.