In 2022, Vinesh Phogat last competed at the World Championships in Belgrade, securing a bronze medal. Unfortunately, a knee injury forced her to miss the subsequent Asian Games, as reported by Olympics.com.
Despite the setback, the two-time World Championships bronze medalist displayed remarkable prowess at the National Wrestling Championships 2024. She swiftly defeated Jyoti in just two minutes, claiming victory in the 55kg category.
Asian Games gold medalist Vinesh Phogat clinched the 55kg gold at the Senior National Wrestling Championships organized by the IOA-constituted ad-hoc committee on Sunday, 4th February.
Despite competing in a higher weight category, Vinesh phogat demonstrated her expertise, securing a 4-0 victory over her Madhya Pradesh opponent, Jyoti. Representing the Railway Sports Promotion Board (RSPB), the 29-year-old grappler had previously won gold at the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games in the 50kg category and the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games in the 53kg category.
In another intense matchup, Haryana’s Anshu Malik, the 2021 World Championship silver medalist, triumphed over 2020 Asian Championship gold medalist Sarita Mor (Railways) with a score of 8-3 in the 59kg category.
Vinesh Phogat from Haryana dominated the overall standings, claiming the top spot with 189 points, narrowly surpassing powerhouse RSPB, which secured the second position with 187 points. Pondicherry trailed behind in third place with 81 points.
Competitions in Jaipur featured contests across 10 different weight divisions. Among them, six categories—50kg, 53kg, 57kg, 62kg, 68kg, and 76kg—are designated Olympic weight classes, while the remaining four—55kg, 59kg, 65kg, and 72kg—are classified as non-Olympic divisions.
Expressing her optimism for the Olympic year, Vinesh conveyed to NNIS, “It’s the Olympic year, and it has started well. I’ll try that this year ends well too. The wrestling qualifiers are coming soon (in April)… Need to focus on peaking at the right time. So far, I have been on target.”
