Vinesh Phogat Clinches Gold in National Wrestling Championship Organised by Ad-Hoc Committee

Asian Games gold medalist Vinesh Phogat on Sunday bagged a gold medal in the 55kg wrestling category of the Senior National Wrestling Championships, conducted by an ad-hoc committee, constituted by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA).

Jaipur (Rajasthan): Asian Games gold medalist Vinesh Phogat emerged triumphant in the 55kg category in the Senior National Wrestling Championships conducted by the IOA-constituted ad-hoc committee here on Sunday.

Vinesh Phogat displayed her skills and experience to clinch a 4-0 victory in the summit clash against her rival from Madhya Pradesh Jyoti. Notably, she was competing in a higher-weight category.

The 29-year-old Vinesh, who was representing the Railway Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) had clinched the gold medal in the 50kg category of the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games and also secured the top podium spot at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games in the 53kg category.

In another keen contest, 2021 World Championship silver medallist, Haryana's Anshu Malik defeated 2020 Asian Championship gold medallist Sarita Mor (Railways) 8-3 in the 59kg category. The Haryana grapplers dominated the proceedings, taking the top spot with 189 points and narrowly pushing powerhouse RSPB to second spot with 187 points. Pondicherry were at the third with 81 points.

In the men's greco-roman section, RSPB emerged overall winners with 208 points, followed distantly by Services Sports Control Board (127 points) and Maharashtra (113 points). The last day of the competition on Monday will see men's freestyle events.

Earlier, Vinesh Phogat, a prominent grappler, fighting for the re-election of the suspended Wrestling Federation of India on Saturday urged the Centre to issue guidelines to wrestlers on which tournaments to compete in and which to avoid.

"We are trying our best, we are athletes and we want the best for ourselves and other athletes. They (WFI) organised a 'national', which holds no value. The athletes should also be told about competitions, with proper guidelines about which competitions will allow them to participate in different tournaments across the world in the future," said Vinesh.

"I want to say that there are some things that the government should clear. But, right now, what is happening here in Jaipur, I am happy about that," she added.

Vinesh requested the Sports Ministry to intervene and prevent the suspended WFI officials from complicating matters in a crucial Olympic year.

"People from the Brij Bhushan (Sharan Singh) camp are complicating things, but the government should step in as it is an Olympic year and less than six months are left for the event," she added.

"I am really happy that finally, the national championship is happening for the senior athletes. This being an Olympic year, we want to try to win medals for our country," Vinesh asserted. The Sports Ministry had suspended the WFI after its newly-elected body made a "hasty announcement" of organising the U-15 and U-20 nationals "without giving sufficient notice to wrestlers" to prepare. (With PTI inputs)

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