Vinesh Phogat became the first Indian women to win a gold medal in the Asian Games when she got the better of Japan’s Yuki Irie in the 50kg freestyle final on Monday.
Vinesh, who had dominated every bout till the final, almost pinned her opponent in the first round but then kept her composure to clinch the gold medal with a 6-2 scoreline and also avenge the loss to the same opponent in the 2015 Asian Championship.
Here more about India’s second gold medallist from the 18th Asian Games.
Date of birth: 25-08-1994
Event at Asian Games: Women’s 50kg wrestling
Past performances: Bronze in 48kg in 2014 (Incheon)
Best performance so far: Gold in 50kg in 2018 CWG (Gold Coast)
Brief description: The surname must surely ring a bell after the success of the Bollywood blockbuster Dangal, which was based on the careers of the Phogat sisters. Vinesh, the cousin of wrestling champions Gita and Babita, made a mark like them early in her career, winning a bronze medal in the Asian Wrestling Championships as an 18-year-old. At 19, she won gold in the 48 kg category of the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. Vinesh was no longer known just for her family name. She kept accumulating medals thereafter – the next major one, a bronze, coming at the 2014 Asiad in Incheon. At the 2015 Asian Championships in Doha, Phogat won the silver medal in her category after losing the final to Yuki Irie of Japan. The same year, she qualified for the 2016 Olympics in Rio. An untimely injury during the Olympics quashed her biggest dream of wearing a medal of the most prestigious sporting event. But Vinesh moved on from Rio quickly. She had rekindled her mind, she had rehabilitated her body, she is readying herself to wear gold in Tokyo. The signs are good. At the 2018 Commonwealth Games, she won the gold medal in women’s 50kg freestyle wrestling. And now, she has created history by becoming the first Indian woman wrestler to win the Asiad gold.