Why Vinesh Phogat’s ‘unorthodox’ style makes her hard to beat

Vinesh Phogat has bagged a hat-trick of gold medals going into the Olympics and will be the top seed at Tokyo 2020, which got underway on July 23. In fact, since the Indian wrestler moved up from the 50kg to 53kg category in 2019, she had been on the podium in 11 out of 11 tournaments.

The 26-year-old, ranked No 1 in her weight division, will be one of India’s brightest medal hopes at Tokyo 2020. We take a look at what makes the ace Indian wrestler so hard to beat:

Impeccable balance

Balance is an important aspect for wrestlers as they have to stay strong on their feet. They not only need the ability to defend, but to transform from defence to attack in a blink of an eye.

“Vinesh's balance is remarkable,” India’s foreign coach Andrew Cook was quoted saying by the Press Trust of India after the 2019 World Championships, where Phogat sealed her Tokyo Olympics qualification.

“It's like a cat. You throw a cat from the top of a building and it still lands on its toes, safely. It's uncanny. It's like a gyroscope. It's something which comes natural to athletes. You can't develop it."

Ability to improvise

Every opponent is different. And even though wrestlers go onto the mat with a plan in mind, they sometimes have to react and adapt to the situation.

Phogat’s rivals Sun Yanan and Sarah Hildebrandt believe the Indian’s ability to improvise is what gives her the edge.

"I have fought with her four times and each time she was different. She is sharper and has added more strength to her body. She is as good as Japanese wrestlers, if not better," said Yanan.

“I have never practiced these crazy situations that Vinesh puts you in. She is very unorthodox and I am unable to finish against her. She improvises so much that it makes it difficult,” said Hildebrandt.

Upper body strength

Phogat has worked a lot on her upper body strength after moving up to the 53kg category.

Chinese wrestler Qianyu Pang, who won a bronze medal at the 2019 World Championships, said: ““Her strength is incredible. Her upper body is strong and she puts you in positions where you cannot get out. It’s incredible.”

Her upper body strength was again apparent during the Rome Ranking series in 2020, when she used the shoulder pulls to great effect to clinch the gold medal.