NEW DELHI: Before Thursday, India’s medal record in the women’s events of the Asian Wrestling Championship stood at a solitary gold which was clinched by Navjot Kaur (65kg) back in 2018 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. On Thursday at the IG Stadium here, that tally swelled by three more, with Divya Kakran (68kg), Pinki (55kg) and Sarita Mor (59kg) all clinching top spot. Nirmala Devi lost out narrowly to settle for silver.
Divya was the lone gold winner in an Olympic category. The 2018 Asian Games Bronze medallist did so by virtue of winning all her 4 bouts against Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Uzbekistan, and Japan by fall. “This win came at the right time and it gives me a lot of confidence, especially as next month I will try to earn an Olympic quota,” a smiling Divya told this daily. While the line might sound cliched, it rings true especially considering this is an Olympic year and with her recent failure at the World Championships and at the Rome Ranking event. “I believe what was lacking is belief. That we can win at this level. That was holding us back but today, thankfully that got erased and now I can start preparing even harder for the continental qualifiers.”
She began by routing Kazakhstan’s Albina Kairgelinova and then knocked out Mongolia’s Delgermaa Enkkhsaikhan. In the third round, against Uzbekistan’s Azoda Esbergenova, she raced to a 4-0 lead with consecutive rolls and then pinned her opponent to finish it off in just 27 seconds! “I had to win by fall to get five points from all my bouts because the Japanese girl was winning all her bouts by big margins as well. I started taking risks to earn those wins. My coach had said that I don’t have to go for big throws all the time but I went for it nonetheless.”
Divya’s final bout against reigning junior world champion Naruha Matsuyuki of Japan was a cliffhanger, where she ended up pinning her opponent at the very last moment to confirm a 6-4 win. At one point, the score was tied at 4-4 after one of her attacking moves did not work out, allowing her opponent to almost record an improbable victory. “I thought I could execute a throw, that’s the reason I went for the attack. But a lot of times, things change drastically from winning position, and the same happened to me. I was leading 4-0 but was badly stuck there. I just thought I had to come out of this mess somehow. I don’t know how I managed it, but I applied my opponent’s move on herself,” she said.
As soon as the buzzer rang, she let out an almighty roar which was reciprocated by the partisan crowd in attendance. She leapt into the arms of personal coach Vladimir Mestvirishvili. The 68 kg category was played in round-robin format as only 5 wrestlers were in fray due to the absence of Chinese wrestlers.
While it sounds easy on paper, it was the complete opposite with the 21-year-old having to face all her opponents in the span of only two hours. “If you have a five-wrestler group, it becomes even tougher physically and mentally. It was tough on the body but the good thing is I have improved on my range, I made all kinds of attacks, Irani, Kheme, single-leg, double leg attacks and they all worked out in the end.”