Vinesh Phogat’s 53kg weight category in Women’s Wrestling is what 65kg is to Men’s Freestyle. It has no favourites, and anyone can get her hand on the Olympics gold. Some of the big names in this category are Japan’s Mayu Mukaida, Korea’s Pak Mi Yong and China’s Qianyu Pang. Now, with a medal-finish at the Pan-American Olympic Qualifiers, USA’s Jacarra Winchester has also thrown her hat in the fray.
The 2019 World Champion is known for her agility and leg attacks. While the Indian wrestler is swift on the mat, too, she lacks the ability to the prowess of leg attacks.
“Vinesh needs to work hard to improve her leg attack. It will help her in the direct transition to score more points,” Vinesh’s coach Woller Akos agrees.
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The US grappler is also good at converting defence into attack. When on the ground, she usually tries to move and attack her opponents form the side. She then faces the shoulder of her opponent bringing herself in a stronger position to dominate the movement. This kind of strategy is very common among Russian freestyle wrestlers and has inspired other countries to adopt it.
Vinesh, on the other hand, plays an aggressive game. Against lower-ranked athletes, the strategy has done wonders for the 25-year-old but with a stronger competitor she ends up losing crucial points early in the game.
She, however, took up a different strategy against her arch-nemesis Mayu Mukaida in the Asian Championships. Vinesh held herself back in the starting minutes and waited for an opportunity to score points. Although she eventually lost to the Japanese, Vinesh managed to get the scoreboard moving in her favour for the first time in the last three encounters against the Japanese.
Vinesh would not also require to start getting stronger with her ground moves for overcoming the Winchester puzzle. Moreover, she would have to add some new techniques ahead of the Olympics.
“Vinesh needs to adapt to some of Greco techniques. Also, she needs to learn how to use her technical knowledge tactically on the mat,” Akos said.
