When Navjot Kaur took to the mat for the 65kg final in the Asian Championship in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on Friday, the 28-year-old was fighting history. Indian women wrestlers had reached this far 13 times, with the Punjab wrestler herself losing a final in 2013 and was under pressure after having lost to Miyu Imai in the group stage.
But the 2014 Commonwealth Games bronze medallist twice earned 4-point throws on counters to beat Imai 9-1 in the final to become the first Indian woman to win the gold medal and could not contain her jubilation as she took a victory lap on the shoulder of her two coaches. “This is the best day of my life since I started wrestling,” a jubilant Kaur, who started learning the ropes of the sport back in 2004, told the official world wrestling website.
“This pressure was something that every athlete was having at the Asian Championships,” Kaur said. “But this time, I decided, No, I will compete without pressure. I have just one chance to prove myself, so I was prepared. I won’t feel any pressure, let me go and play my natural game.
“Now I have won and I’m proud to become the first woman from India to win a gold at the Asian Championships.”
Kaur acknowledged the support of her coaches and support staff after the triumph and dedicated her title to the whole nation by calling the medal a “gift of Holi to the country.”
“I have been preparing for this and waiting for this for very long,” she said. “At the national camp, I was supported and motivated by the whole team, including the coaches and the medical staff.
“I was a bit nervous, being on this platform and you have a lot of load on your shoulders. But I was confident. I was encouraged too: ‘No, you can do it, you can beat Japan, it’s not something that you can’t achieve.’”, she added.