CHENNAI: Young wrestler Priya Malik bagged a handful of medals in age group competitions last year. She had won a silver each at the U-20 World and Asian Championships in 2022. She had also clinched gold at both the U-17 World and Asian Championships in the same year.
Given her show last year, Priya was considered a future prospect. And she proved them right on her senior debut as the 18-year-old wrestler from Nidani village of Jind district (Haryana) pocket a 76kg bronze at the Asian Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan on Tuesday.
Competitions in women's wrestling began with bouts in five weight categories on Tuesday. Apart from Priya, Nisha Dahiya bagged a silver medal in 68kg. Neelam (50kg) was also in contention for bronze but she lost the playoff to a Chinese wrestler.
Priya beat Hui Tsz Chang of Chinese Taipei 2-1 in the qualification round to enter the quarterfinals. She, however, lost her bout to Aiperi Medet Kyzy of Kyrgyzstan by fall (0-4). Priya made it to the bronze medal playoff as the Kyrgyzstan wrestler entered the final. She then defeated Japanese wrestler Mizuki Nagashima 2-1 to finish on the podium.
"The medal on debut, especially in the Olympic qualifying year will give her a lot of confidence. Given her weight category, which is an Olympic class, she will now work hard for the World Championships scheduled in September. The Worlds is a qualifying event for the 2024 Paris Games," Jaibhagwan, Priya's father, told this daily.
Even though her father and uncle Rakesh were wrestlers, it was Priya's grandfather Pirthi Singh who inspired her to take up the sport. "She is good at studies as well and I wanted her to focus on education. But my father inspired her to pursue her career in wrestling. She started training in 2017 and won medals in age group nationals much to the delight of her grandfather. However, when she won her maiden international medal, a 73kg gold in the 2021 Cadets World Championships, he was not there to see her succeed as he passed away a year before due to a heart attack," added the father.
India's Sito (55kg) and Worlds medallist Sarita Mor (59kg) also competed on Tuesday but they lost to go out of medal contention. "Priya's win against the Japanese wrestler is important. It was tough but she kept her composure to walk away with bronze. Tomorrow (Wednesday), we are expecting at least three medals as Antim (53kg), Anshu Malik (57kg) and Sonam Malik (62) will be in action," said Virender Dahiya, India coach.