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The Olympic games are just days away and India’s largest ever contingent is getting ready for the biggest show on earth. The eyes of a billion will be on the 120 Indians who would hope to light the stage at Rio Olympics and bring glory and honours for the country. Indeed, many medal prospects have come up for India across disciplines as varied as hockey, weightlifting, tennis, badminton, shooting and wrestling.
Wrestling was a source of medals for India in the past two Olympic games where we have managed to win 1 silver & 2 bronze medals and expectations are high of the Indian wrestlers heading into Rio.
But while all eyes are set on the likes of Yogeshwar Dutt and Narsingh Yadav, we might not have realised that as many as 3 female Indian wrestlers are heading to Rio as well. That’s right. Women’s wrestling in India is on a high following Vinesh, Babita & Sakshi’s entrance into the gala sporting event.
But are the female wrestlers ready for the world stage yet? Can they even go a step further and challenge for a medal in Rio? Let us have a brief look into each of their chances going into the Olympic games.
#1 Vinesh Phogat (Women’s 48kg freestyle)
Vinesh Phogat managed to qualify for the Olympics by winning the 2nd Olympics qualification event in Istanbul, winning the entire tournament after she was disqualified from the first Olympic qualifiers being a couple of kilos overweight for the tournament. However, in the second qualifiers, she dominated every opponent who came in her way and won the tournament easily.
Also Read: Rio Olympics 2016: Vinesh Phogat - 10 things to know about the wrestling star
Indeed, her past laurels and performances would project her as a medal prospect. Born into the famous Phogat family of Haryana, the youngest sister amongst fellow Olympians Geeta and Babita, the 21-year-old has won laurels and trophies over the years, claiming Commonwealth games Gold in 2014 and Asian games Bronze in the same year.
At 21, she has shown enough promise for us to consider herself a contender. It will perhaps be tough but it is certainly not beyond her reach.
Key Opponents : Eri Tosaka (Japan), Mariya Stadnik (Azerbaijan), Jessica Blaszka (Netherlands)
Predicted Finish : Top 4 (Medal Prospect)
#2 Babita Kumari (Women’s 53kg freestyle)
Vinesh’s cousin Babita was the first woman to win a women’s wrestling quota for India after winning a bronze medal for the country at the Asian Olympic qualification event held in Astana, Kazakhstan.
The eldest of the Indian female wrestling contingent at just 26, Babita has experienced more success in her professional career winning the World Championship Bronze in 2012 and Commonwealth Games Gold in 2014. The Olympic medal is the only one missing from her kitty and Rio presents as good a chance for her as any she has ever had, to finally claim a medal for her country.
Also Read: Rio Olympics 2016: An in-depth look at India's hopefuls in wrestling
An Olympic medal is her expected target but with strong opponents in her weight class, it certainly will not be the easiest of tasks.
Key Opponents : Erdenechimegiin Sumiyaa (Mongolia), Saori Yoshida (Japan), Sofia Mattsson (Sweden)
Predicted Finish: Top 8
#3 Sakshi Malik ( Women’s 58Kg Freestyle)
While the focus seemed to be on the Phogat sisters to shine and ensure qualification for India, Sakshi Malik has quietly managed to battle her way to Rio through the second Olympic qualifiers held in Istanbul, Turkey.
Sakshi has won a silver in the 2014 Commonwealth games and a bronze in the 2015 Asian championships in her career so far. She has shown enough promise in her to achieve further laurels in her sport though.
Also Read: Sakshi Malik: 10 things to know about India's female wrestling star hoping to make it big at Rio
At 23, Sakshi is yet to reach her full potential and the Olympic games would serve as a great platform to build her up for greater things to come. While a medal might be a step too far, nothing can beat the experience and the exposure that a wrestler can get through these games.
Such an experience can only be beneficial for a sportsperson as it can motivate and drive them to do better the next time they get a chance on the big stage.
Key Opponents : Kaori Icho (Japan) , Petra Olli (Finland) , Elif Jale Yeilrmak (Finland)
Predicted Finish : Top 16
