NEWS
NEW DELHI: Vinesh Phogat scores read a perfect three out of three ever since the Tokyo Olympic-bound wrestler has made her competitive return to the mat this year in February. At the three tournaments that Vinesh has competed so far – XXIV Outstanding Ukrainian Wrestlers and Coaches Memorial in Kyiv (February), Matteo Pellicone Rome Rankings in Rome (March) and Asian championships in Kazakhstan (mid-April) - the reigning Commonwealth and Asian Games champion returned home with a gold medal each time. In fact, her gold at the Asian championships was her maiden yellow metal in her previous seven attempts. However, the reigning world number one in the women's 53kg class, Vinesh has conceded that she's struggling with her recovery after competition and the lack of aggressiveness during bouts, while also looking to strike a coordination between her body and the mind. "I entered the competition arena after a year in Kiev and realised that my wrestling wasn't that smooth. There was certain stiffness in my body and my movements during the bouts weren't matching my mind. Then, in the second competition in Rome, I managed to strike a balance between the two. At the Asian meet, I faced recovery issues after the weight loss and the aggressiveness during bouts was missing. I have realised that my recovery after dropping some weight isn't that great…it's taking time. I am figuring out changes in my diet plan to resolve this issue. I used to play attacking wrestling, but I found the aggressiveness missing after returning to competitions. So, I need to figure these two issues out," Vinesh said during a media interaction facilitated by the Sports Authority of India (SAI)
Vinesh informed that after changing her weight category from 50kg to 53kg for the Tokyo Olympics in 2019, she has been experiencing low blood pressure (BP) issue which has also made her recovery slow. "Since 2019, I have been struggling with low BP. Sometimes it happens during the competition and, as a result, I can't see my opponents' move clearly. Everything becomes blank for a while. So, I have to always keep my BP in check and constantly monitor its fluctuations. When salt intake goes down, I feel dizziness. It all started after the weight loss in 2019. During the Kiev tournament, it dropped down but, in the Rome meet, I managed to keep it under control. Nothing happened during the Asian championships. Still, with Tokyo three-four months' away, I need to keep a strict check on it." Vinesh revealed that she has added new repertoire to her game under personal coach Woller Akos and that she has become a better wrestler both skill and technique wise. "Earlier, I would only look for attacks during my matches, whether I am winning or losing. I would make the same mistakes again and again. I had kind of become one dimensional. I was playing front wrestling like attacking straightaway. Now, I have matured and become a tactical wrestler. I know when to attack and how to read an opponent's move. The timing is crucial. I now rely on motion and change wrestling like more hand movements and attacking the opponent only when there's an opening. Earlier, I would be in a hurry to score points, now it was about playing clever wrestling with smooth hand and mind coordination. Both Woller and I will sit together on Saturdays to watch competition videos of my opponents who are coming to Tokyo. For every opponent, we are strategising," she said.
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