Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat is a shining star in the wrestling industry. On Friday, 6 April 2021, she won her maiden gold medal in the Asian Wrestling championship. With her perfect timing and moves, she knocked down her rival, Meng Hsuan Hsieh, from Taipei and added one more feather in her cap. Vinesh Phogat’s achievements can inspire many other girls in the country, so it is a must to know who is Vinesh Phogat and what is her success story.
India has become a progressive country for the education and career of girls. Earlier wrestling used to be considered as men’s game. But the girls are doing really well in this sport and earning name and fame. Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat has proved this fact again to the world in Asian Wrestling Championships in Almaty. Let’s know more about the wrestler and her journey to success;
Who is Vinesh Phogat?
You must have heard about the Phogat sister that has won various medals for the country in different international wrestling championships. Thanks to the movies made on them, we also know that the Phogat sisters get the wrestling training from Mahavir Singh Phogat, their father. Like the Phogat sisters, Vinesh Phogat also learns wrestling from Mahavir Singh. He is the elder brother of Vinesh Phogat’s father, Rajpal Phogat. Vinesh Phogat is the cousin of Phogat sisters, Geeta Phogat and Babita Kumari. Considering the passion of the family for wrestling, Vinesh must have started her practice in her childhood. Her coach had already proved his skills when two of his students won the medals in different national and international wrestling competitions.
Mahavir Singh and his brother had faced many challenges while training their girls for wrestling. The Phogats belong to Haryana. The Indian state has conservative thinking for girls. When Vinesh Phogat was getting trained for wrestling matches simultaneously, the girls’ birth was a sad occasion in their village. But the family encourages the girls to do well in this man dominating the sport, and we see the result. The recent victory of Vinesh Phogat brought her a gold medal and number one rank in the world in the 53 KG segment of women wrestlers. Here have a look at the career of Vinesh Phogat and her achievements.
Vinesh Phogat’s Achievements
The success story of Vinesh Phogat can inspire many other girls of the country to remove the taboos and do well in the career of their choice. Despite belonging to a small and conservative village, Vinesh Phogat has become the 1st rank wrestler in the world. Her journey from a small Indian training place called ‘Akhada’ has now reached various international wrestling platforms. She has got coaching from Mahavir Singh Phogat. She has earned a good name in the international wrestling arena. With her perfection in the sport, she is writing a new history.
She started her wrestling career when she was 19 years old in 2013 from the 53 KG group. In 2013, she participated in the Asian Wrestling competition and won bronze in the competition. Here are the five biggest achievements Vinesh has earned in her wrestling career so far;
- Gold Medal in Commonwealth Games 2014: Her performance in 2014’s commonwealth games was remarkable. In Glasgow Games, she defeated England’s Yana to bring gold.
- Laureus World Sports Awards: She is the first Indian wrestler to nominate the prestigious Laureus World Award for the best comeback. Though Tiger Woods received the award with this nomination, the world recognizes the lady wrestler of India. She was nominated for her comeback in Rio Olympics after a serious knee injury.
- Gold Medal in Commonwealth Games 2018: In 2018, Vinesh Phogat won the gold medal after defeating Jessica MacDonald from Canada.
- Bronze Asian Wrestling Championship 2019: Vinesh brought bronze home after beating Qianyu Pang from China. Here performance and moves on the mat were quick, and the wrestlers highly appreciated her performance in the match.
- Gold in Asian Wrestling Championship 2021: the recent achievement of the wrestler is to win a gold medal in the Asian Wrestling Championship in 2021. The absence of her Chinese and Japanese rivals made the way to the finals easy, but the gold she fetched is because of her moves, practice, and dedication to the sport. The best part of her game in finals was, she didn’t give a single chance to another player. The Olympic bound wrestler has clinched four bronze and three silver medals and now the gold. So the lady will bring all three metals from the competition to home.