Vinesh Phogat ends hiatus by clinching gold at the XXIV Outstanding Ukrainian Wrestlers and Coaches Memorial tournament

India’s star wrestler, Vinesh Phoghat returns after a year long hiatus to win gold in the 53kg category at the XXIV Outstanding Ukrainian Wrestlers and Coaches Memorial which happened in Kyiv on Sunday.

The 26-year old was the first time in action on the mat ever since winning bronze at the Asian Championships last year in February. Despite the huge break in between Vinesh pinned down her opponent Vanesa Kaladzinskaya from Belarus when the score was 10-8 in her favour. He pinned her down for the last 25 seconds and clinched the gold medal in the process.

Vinesh Phoghat is among the group of sports persons from whom the Indian citizens expect a medal at the Tokyo Olympics which is scheduled for later this year. Although the final was very cagey and hardly had anything to separate the wrestlers, Phogat came home with the last laugh.

She started strongly by taking a four points lead but the world No. 7 from Belarus was not holding back as he equalised a few moments later. A take down helped Phogat to earn another two points but Kaladzinskaya’s throw propelled her into the lead with four more points. Right when the score was 8-6 in Kaladzinskay’s favour, Phogat pinned her down.

Despite all the difficulties and the challengers Vinesh Phogat looked in control as she forced her way through by winning four bouts in the day ahead of the big finals. She started her Ukrainian Memorial campaign on Saturday with a 3-1 win against two-time Asian championships bronze medallist Aktenge Keunimjaeva hailing from Uzbekistan. In the second round she dominated Katsiaryna Pichkouskaya from Belarus to win 5-1, whereas round three or the quarterfinals against the Youth Olympic Games silver medallist Iulia Leorda was a very close encounter but Phogat prevailed 2-0 as she earned both points through passivity.

Her best performance till now in this tournament came at the semifinals where she just dispatched Andreea Ana of Romania and as she was leading 7-0 Phogat pinned her opponent down with over two minutes left in the clock. While she went a notch higher in the finals.

Hailing from Balali in Haryana, Vinesh Phogat has been in Europe since last December with her Hungarian coach Woller Akos as he was a part of a 40-day training camp in Hungary and Poland. Therefore the 26-year old skipped the Women’s Senior National Wrestling Championships. It is clear that Phogat’s target is currently a medal at the Summer Games in Tokyo this year and even citizens of India want her to do well and has also included her in the group of elite Indian sportsperson from whom the country is expecting a medal at the Tokyo Olympics.  She has already qualified for the Summer Games after winning bronze at the 2019 World Championships.