National Wrestling Championships 2024: Vinesh Phogat wins gold on return
Vinesh, returning to the mat after 16 months, defeated Jyoti for the 55kg title while Anshu Malik beat Sarita Mor for the 59kg title. Both were non-Olympic categories.
Wrestling
Two-time World Championships medallist Vinesh Phogat returned to the mat after a 16-month-long injury break to claim the women’s 55kg freestyle gold medal at the Senior National Wrestling Championships 2024 at the Railway Stadium in Jaipur on Sunday.
The 29-year-old Vinesh last competed at the 2022 World Championships in Belgrade, where she claimed bronze in the 53kg category. A knee injury ruled out her bid to return for the Asian Games last year.
Vinesh beat youngster Jyoti 4-0 in the finals to emerge as the winner in the 55kg event at the National Wrestling Championships 2024.
The star Indian wrestler was competing in a higher weight division and a non-Olympic weight category at the senior nationals. Vinesh had undergone knee surgery in August last year and returned to training only in December.
Competitions were held in 10 different weight divisions in Jaipur. Six - 50kg, 53kg, 57kg, 62kg, 68kg and 76kg - are Olympic categories while four - 55kg, 59kg, 65kg and 72kg - are non-Olympic divisions.
“It’s the Olympic year and it has started well,” Vinesh told NNIS. “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.”
Anshu Malik, a World Championships and Commonwealth Games silver medallist, defeated four-time Asian medallist Sarita Mor 8-3 to claim top podium in the women’s 59kg category.
Nirmala Devi, who won silver medals at the Asian Championships and the Commonwealth Games, pinned Under-23 Asian champion Neelam to bag the 50kg category crown.
The Greco-Roman events were held on Saturday while the men's freestyle category will conclude the nationals on Monday.
National Wrestling Championships 2024 women medal winners
- 50kg: 1. Nirmala, 2. Neelam, 3. Sonia Choudhary, Anju
- 53kg: 1. Ankush, 2. Jyoti, 3. Kavita Mali, Swati
- 55kg: 1. Vinesh Phogat, 2. Jyoti, 3. Swati, Tamanna
- 57kg: 1. Anju, 2. Tapsya, 3. Shilpa, Bhanu
- 59kg: 1. Anshu Malik, 2. Sarita Mor, 3. Deepti, Anjali
- 62kg: 1. Mansi, 2. Sonika Kumari, 3. Savita, Seema
- 65kg: 1. Sonali, 2. Diksha Malik, 3. Bhateri, Priyanka
- 68kg: 1. Nisha, 2. Radhika, 3. Priyanka, Annu
- 72kg: 1. Jyoti, 2. Nikki, 3. Jashanbir Kaur, Priyanka
- 76kg: 1. Reetika, 2. Sunena, 3. Manju, Harshita