Vinesh Phogat creates history, wins gold in wrestling

India's Vinesh Phogat (blue) in action against Japan's Yuki Irie during the freestyle 50kg final in Jakarta yesterday. Pic/PTI

Less than two years ago, a crying Vinesh Phogat's image at the Rio Olympics, where she hurt her knee and had to concede her match against China's Sun Yanan, was one of the most emotional moments for India and the wrestler. Yesterday, Vinesh could not stop smiling after powering her way to the gold medal in the 50kg category, beating Japan's Yuki Irie 6-2 at the Jakarta Convention Centre Assembly Hall.

The cherry on top of this win inevitably was the fact that she overpowered Yanan 8-2 in the pre-quarterfinals a few hours ago. Obviously, those Rio memories were made fresh again. More than that injury, Vinesh said the days after it were some of the toughest in her life.

"I was in immense pain back then and while some people consoled me, I also heard many negative whispers from people, who felt that I was no good and that my career was over. Instead, I worked even harder on my strengthening and here I am," Vinesh said after making history by becoming the first Indian female wrestler to win a gold medal at the Asian Games.

Her idol and India's two-time Olympic medal-winning grappler Sushil Kumar's words inspired throughout. Vinesh said: "He told me after I quit that Rio bout that I should not lose heart because if God has taken something away from me, he would have kept something better lined up, and here it is. This competition was not less than the Olympics for me."

Vinesh earlier this year won a silver medal at the Asian Championships in Kyrgyzstan. She also has a bronze from the last Asian Games in Incheon. "I said to myself before going into today's final that enough of these bronze and silver medals, it's high time I got a gold medal now. I'm glad to have lived up to my own expectations," said the Haryanvi grappler.

Vinesh, 23, took a straight-up 4-0 lead in the first round yesterday with two strong twists of her opponent. In the second round, Yuki did try to fight back and registered two points with a powerful tug but the Indian held on and returned the favour to clinch two more points and seal India's second gold medal at these Asian Games.

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