As 2019 comes to an end, in this series we take a look at the significant news events in different sporting disciplines in the past 12 months.
In what has become a sport that the country’s athletes consistently do well internationally, India had another good year in wrestling.
Apart from the established names living up to the expectations, newcomers made their mark at the senior-level with Deepak Punia and Ravi Dahiya winning medals at the Senior World Championships.
But the year also saw the decline of Olympic trailblazers Sushil Kumar and Sakshi Malik.
Campaign to remember in Nursultan
More importantly, five medals and four Olympic quota places made this year’s World Championships an unprecedented one for India’s wrestlers.
The megastars – Bajrang Punia (65 kg) and Vinesh Phogat (53 kg) – delivered podium finishes along with Tokyo 2020 quotas.
Deepak Punia (86 kg), who was crowned junior world champion earlier this year to end a near wait for two decades, was the biggest takeaway from the senior worlds with a silver and an Olympic quota.
He could well have pulled off a gold, the first since the iconic Sushil Kumar’s path-breaking one back in 2010, but an ankle injury came in the way and he had to forfeit the final. The icing on the cake came towards the end of the year when he was named the junior wrestler of the year by the sport’s governing body United World Wrestling.
He first rose to prominence in 2016 with a cadet World Championship gold. In 2018, he managed just one medal at the senior level, but this year he pocketed two bronze and a silver before landing biggest second-place finish of his career in NurSultan.
A smooth transition from junior to senior circuit and the fact that he is world number one now has raised expectations from Deepak Punia going into the Olympic year.
The more established Bajrang won every tournament he entered till the worlds. The gold medals came from Dan Kolov, Asian Championship, Ali Aliev and Yasar Dogu but his already-exposed leg defence was sorted by his rivals by the time the world event came along.
His unbeaten run was halted by Kazakhstan’s Daulet Niyazbekov in NurSultan, albeit controversially, and it came as rude shock since he was the favourite to win the title as world number one.
Bajrang cried foul after the loss, complaining that the judging favoured the home wrestler, but what was undeniable was also his tendency to concede early leads.
Against Niyazbekov, Bajrang trailed 2-8 at one stage in the bout.
Nevertheless, Bajrang consolidated his position as an undisputed star at the global stage with his supreme stamina and attacking style.
Another wrestler emerging from a humble background was 22-year-old Ravi Dahiya. His rock-solid technique, strong defence and above all, temperament, make him a strong contender for an Olympic medal.
His bronze medal at the Worlds came as a surprise to many but he had shown his potential at the Pro Wrestling League. In cool-headed Ravi, India can hope for more than one medal from its male grapplers in Tokyo.
Rahul Aware added to India’s tally with a bronze, albeit in the non-olympic 61kg category.
In a sport dominated by Haryana, the diminutive wrestler from Pune is trying to carry forward the legacy of the great KD Jadhav, who was independent India’s first athlete to win an Olympic medal.
Also read: For her daughter’s sake, 35-year-old Gursharan Preet Kaur is back on wrestling mat and winning too
Vinesh’s redemption arc
Vinesh Phogat further fuelled the rising Olympic medal hopes from her by claiming her first ever medal at the World Championship. In one of the most competitive Olympic categories, the fiery Phogat overpowered not just opponents but also a few demons in her head to gain confidence.
She showed that she can be at par with the best in this division with wins over top wrestlers, including then world No 1 Sarah Ann Hildebrandt, en route a bronze in NurSultan.
However, for double Olympic-medallist Sushil Kumar and Rio 2016 bronze-winner Sakshi Malik, the year was a battle to stay relevant.
Both competed at the worlds after winning national trials but neither of them could last more than a round. The questions being asked of Sushil, 36, and his future are louder compared to the ones being posed to a much younger Malik, 27, who has been mostly underwhelming since her Olympic bronze.
But the future is looking increasingly bleak for her after she was dropped from the government’s flagship Target Olympic Podium Scheme due to less-than-flattering performances this season.
Given that there are still two more chances for wrestlers to qualify for Tokyo, India should hope that Malik alongwith Pooja Dhanda, Sumit Malik, Divya Kakran should qualify for the Games. The new year should mark a new beginning for wrestling with India building on their best-ever show.
(With PTI inputs)
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