Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) has finally put rest to the speculations if there will be fresh trials for the Olympic Qualifiers. “There will be fresh trials for the Olympic Qualifiers. With one year to go, there will be many wrestlers who be ready to challenge the current crop Vinod Tomar, WFI assistant secretary said. The Indian governing body is thinking of holding the senior national championships in October should the situation permit and field some junior wrestlers in next year’s trials.
“By January 1 next year, many junior wrestlers will turn seniors. Fielding them against the current crop will make next year’s trials tougher,” he added, reported Hindustan Times. “Wrestlers can get injured as it is a power sport and even a gap of one month is quite big. Injuries can happen and those who have qualified via trials in January this year might not be fit for the Asian qualifiers”.
Giving the example of Sonam-Sakshi Malik bout in which the 18-year-old wrestler had defeated the Olympic medallist, Tomar says that a similar case can happen next year too at the trials.
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Fresh trials to give new breath of life to some senior wrestlers
While it is true that the national trials will give new wings to junior wrestlers, it will also give a new breath of life to some senior wrestlers including Sakshi Malik and Narsingh Yadav. The latter will be returning from a four-year-ban and will throw the hat in fray for the 74kg spot in the Indian team for Tokyo Olympics. “I believe it was my destiny that this opportunity has come knocking on my door. Yes, I am happy but now it is time to train harder and battle out among top contenders for a position in the Indian team,” the 2010 Commonwealth Games gold medallist said.
Narsingh’s main competition for the number one spot will be twin Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar and Asian medallist Jitender — currently top-ranked wrestler in 74kg. Jitender who trained with Bajrang Punia in their Sonepat during the entire lockdown on Sushil and Narsingh challenge opines that they have experience but I have the endurance to tackle them. “They both are my seniors and I have a lot of respect for them. They have way more experience than I have. Sushil pehlwanji has been my idol for so long and I have learnt so much from him. But I believe that I have more endurance than him which might help me. As for Narsinghji, he has been out of competition for very long, so I do not know much about him and his style of wrestling. But I will just keep practising and hope for the best”.
Meanwhile, Sakshi has been working on the mental aspect of wrestling. Losing to Sonam, Sakshi says, ‘in the dying seconds on two occasions has lowered my confidence’. But with time as her ally now, the 27-year-old believes she can make a strong comeback and claim her spot in 62kg. “I do not know what happens. I start strongly and dominate the match but then in last one minute pressure gets me and I lose focus,” she said. “In the second encounter, we had, in the last minute I lost my concentration and made mistakes which cost me the bout”.
“Due to these last-minute loses, I had started questioning myself and my ability. But now, I am trying to change that and am being helped by a psychologist. Satyawarth (Sakshi’s husband) is also helping me to prepare myself mentally,” adding that she has also started reading motivational books and practices meditation daily to build positive thoughts.