‘Vinesh Phogat has immense confidence and is certainly a contender for Olympic medal’
Malik has backed the Indian wrestling contingent to have a successful campaign at Tokyo 2020.
India have sent a strong seven-member contingent to Tokyo 2020 as they look to increase their medals tally. Wrestling has fetched India a medal in the last three editions of the Olympics and certainly hopes are high with some top wrestlers such as Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat in pristine condition.
Though Anshu Malik and Sonam Malik have faced first-round defeats, the hopes are high on the rest of the contingent.
Wrestling coach Ajmer Malik, who runs a wrestling academy in Haryana, believes that apart from having the right mindset and skills, sometimes luck also plays a crucial role in sports. He also mentioned that sports can always throw a few surprises, as was witnessed at Rio 2016 when Sakshi Malik won a bronze medal in the women’s freestyle 58kg event.
“All the remaining wrestlers (Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat, Seema Bisla, Ravi Kumar Dahiya and Deepak Punia) will try to put their best foot forward at Tokyo 2020. They are preparing for a medal. I'm expecting a medal for them as last time (at Rio 2016), Sakshi Malik won a medal when no one was expecting from her,” Malik told Olympics.com.
“All the Olympians who have played before at the mega stage believe that luck plays a big factor. Apart from all the preparations and skills, a lot depends on the luck of the wrestlers, and how it works on the given day. Whoever has qualified for the Olympics has quality and from thereon, everyone will give their 100 per cent. But on the mat, it all comes down to luck,” he opined.
Vinesh Phogat is participating in her second Olympic Games and expectations are high from the top seed who competes in the 53kg category. At Rio 2016, half-way into her bout against China’s Sun Yanan in the 48kg category, she suffered a knee dislocation and had to be stretchered off.
“She was injured at Rio 2016 when everyone was expecting her to bring home a medal. But it’s not her but India that missed out on a medal at Rio 2016. Vinesh Phogat already believes that she is an Olympic medallist. Others might be in two minds about it, but she knows that she is a contender and trains accordingly. She tries to grapple her opponent on the mat with the thought that she is an Olympic medallist. She has that confidence within herself,” said Malik.
He also shared his thoughts on why Haryana continues to be the hotbed for Indian wrestling as new talent continues to emerge every year.
“Since childhood, we get them to compete in a lot of competitions. We keep looking at wrestlers who have won at the Olympics or world level to analyse the strengths and weaknesses and work accordingly on them. And the child starts to think that if we train this way then we can surely win a medal at the Olympics. As a result, their mindset becomes stronger,” explained Malik.