When Sonam failed to perform at the Rome Rankings Series and Asian Championships, the clouds of doubts must have occupied her mind. But things have changed now. Her training today early morning in Lucknow was not the usual one. A mile-run followed by a practice on the mat, Sonam is now pumped up to make her mark in women wrestling history.
She sounded jubilant and full of newfound determination after her performance at the WFI trials of Asian Olympic Qualifiers at Lucknow yesterday (Wednesday).
“I am thrilled that I have qualified for the Asian Olympic Qualifiers,” Sonam told WrestlingTV.
Sonam has become India’s official entry for women’s 62kg competition at the Qualifiers next month. The Haryana born crushed Sakshi Malik’s Olympic dream after winning by pinfall while leading 3-2 in the final at the trials.
In a span of less than two months, Sonam and Sakshi went hammers and tongs at each other on the mat but the story remained the same. Sonam’s triumph over her experienced counter-part.
Sonam preparation with her coach Ajmer was immaculate and she relied on her old warhorses to overcome the Sakshi ‘test’. “Ajmer sir told me to be attacking and to keep moving. Sakshi is more experienced and senior to me so the strategy was to try and dominate her as much as I could,” said Sonam, who had played in an unusual style which was more Greco-Roman than freestyle. During the final, the youngster focused on attacking the upper body rather than going for the leg hooks.
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“Upper body wrestling is my natural game. So I did not make any leg attack,” said Sonam. Attacking the upper body seemed like a brilliant strategy as Sakshi looked completely clueless against the younger rival.
Sonam kicked off her trials with an easy bout against Mansi where she won 10-0 on technical superiority.
However, the semi-finals turned out to be a real test of her wrestling prowess. The match was against the 59kg Asian Champion Sarita Mor. Sarita is known for her endurance and power – a rare combination for a wrestler – but Sonam relied on her new learnt techniques of leg movement and upper body strength to overcome her challenger.
“The match was not easy. Sarita is very powerful than me and good endurance. I played my natural game and attacked the upper body more,” Sonam confessed. “My strategy was to tire her out and then start my attacks and the plan worked.”
Sonam won the bout 3-1 and was against her biggest rival Sakshi Malik.
Her roommate and best friend Anshu also gets the credit for Sonam’s triumph. “Anshu advised me to be confident and not to think of the result and it helped me stay calm” concluded Sonam.
