wrestling

Almost Decided To Quit Wrestling After Tokyo Olympics: Vinesh Phogat

Almost decided to quit wrestling after Tokyo Olympics: Vinesh Phogat

When the Indian contingent met at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence, Vinesh Phogat told PTI news agency that she nearly quit wrestling after her disappointment at the Olympics. She also praised PM Modi for motivating her to do it all over again.

A knee injury in the quarterfinals dashed her hopes in 2016 Rio Olympics. Despite of World No. 1 ranking in her weight category, Vinesh again crashed out in quarterfinals stage of Tokyo Olympics. Vinesh said her last two disappointments brought her to the brink of quitting wrestling, long before she reinvented herself with a gold medal at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.

Vinesh told PTI that “Definitely, you can say that (Vinesh 2.0 reloaded). I have managed to cross a big mental barrier. I almost gave up wrestling because in 2 Olympics I couldn’t win a medal. Olympics is the biggest stage for any athlete. But my family always backed me, they always trust in my abilities.”

“When I was low, I met Modi ji (PM Narendra Modi) and he gave me motivation. He said ‘we trust you and you can do it’. That reignited the spark in me.”

Vinesh phogat with narendra modi

Vinesh also added that the support she got from her family, friends and fans also kept her motivated to keep going.

“Since childhood I like sports. I always play from my heart, I don’t have any pressure from anyone. I feel happy when I win. I always have the passion to win. My family is always supportive of what I am doing,” -Star wrestler said.

“After you win everybody is behind you, but when you get the support after losing it matters a lot, and I have got that from my family, fans and well-wishers after Tokyo.” She said for any athlete nothing is bigger than getting rewards for hard work.

“The most important thing for an athlete is to replicate the thing on the mat which you did in training. I couldn’t do that in Tokyo and I am still very sad about it. But the hard work I have put in the last one year, the way I have managed myself, I wanted to prove myself. The support which I got from all quarters was also at the back of the mind, I can’t disappoint myself.”

“Some people whom I have never met, never knew them, they supported me, backed me, I just thought I have to rise again for them. They are the ones who has been backing my wresting career and I owe them everything.” – Vinesh said.

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Commonwealth Games 2022: Debutants who won medals for India

Commonwealth Games 2022: Debutants who won medals for India

India finished 4th on the medal tally with a total of 61 medals including 22 gold, 16 silver and 23 bronze at the Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham. The Indian contingent had a total of 215 athletes who participated in Commonwealth Games 2022. Out of 215 athletes, 48 were debutants who made their mark across different disciplines. 

Indian debutants did not disappoint and gave a superb performance. Ravi Dahiya, Nikhat Zareen, Nitu Ghanghas, Naveen Malik, Lakshya Sen, Eldhose Paul, and many more won gold medal on their debut appearance. Avinash Sable and Priyanka Goswami also grabbed historic silver medals in Athletics.
Silver winning Indian Men’s hockey team and Bronze winning women’s hockey both had seven debutants each side. 6 out of 10 medals from weightlifting were won by debutants.

Commonwealth Games 2022 Debutants who won medals for India

Here is a list of Indian debutants who shone on their Commonwealth Games debut:

  • Eldhose Paul- Athletics (Triple Jump)- Gold
  • Lakshya Sen- Badminton (Men’s Single and Mixed Team)- Gold and Silver
  • Nitu Ghanghas- Boxing (Women’s Minimumweight)- Gold
  • Nikhat Zareen- Boxing (Women’s Light Flyweight)- Gold
  • Sudhir- Para Powerlifting- Gold
  • Sreeja Akula- Table Tennis (Mixed Doubles)- Gold
  • Jeremy Lalrinnunga- Weightlifting (Men’s 67 kg)- Gold
  • Achinta Sheuli- Weightlifting (Men’s 73 kg)- Gold
  • Ravi Dahiya- Wrestling (Men’s 65 kg)- Gold
  • Naveen Malik- Wrestling (Men’s 74 kg)- Gold
  • Deepak Punia- Wrestling (Men’s 86 kg)- Gold
  • Priyanka Goswami- Athletics (10000m Racewalk)- Silver
  • Murali Sreeshankar- Athletics (Long Jump)- Silver
  • Avinash Sable- Athletics (3000m Steeplechase)- Silver
  • Abdulla Aboobacker- Athletics (Triple Jump)- Silver
  • Sumeeth Reddy- Badminton (Mixed Team)- Silver
  • Aakarshi Kashyap- Badminton (Mixed Team)- Silver
  • Treesa Jolly- Badminton (Mixed Team and Women’s Doubles)- Silver and Bronze
  • Gayatri Gopichand- Badminton (Mixed Team & Women’s Doubles)- Silver and Bronze
  • Rohit Tokas- Boxing (Men’s Welterweight)- Bronze
  • Jaismine- Boxing (Women’s Lightweight)- Bronze
  • Sagar Ahlawat- Boxing (Men’s Super Heavyweight)- Silver
  • Jugraj Singh- Hockey- Silver Shamsher Singh- Hockey- Silver
  • Abhishek- Hockey- Silver Krishan Pathak- Hockey- Silver
  • Hardik Singh- Hockey- Silver Surender Kumar- Hockey- Silver
  • Jarmanpreet Singh- Hockey- Silver Salima Tete- Hockey- Bronze
  • Jyoti- Hockey- Bronze Udita- Hockey- Bronze
  • Nisha- Hockey- Bronze
  • Sangita Kumari- Hockey- Bronze
  • Sharmila Devi- Hockey- Bronze
  • Sonika- Hockey- Bronze
  • Tulika Maan- Judo- Silver
  • Vijay Yadav- Judo- Bronze
  • Navneet Singh- Lawn Bowls (Men’s fours)- Silver
  • Bindyarani Devi- Weightlifting (Women’s 55 kg)- Silver
  • Sanket Sargar- Weightlifting (Men’s 55 kg) – Silver
  • Harjinder Kaur- Weightlifting (Women’s 71 kg)- Bronze
  • Lovepreet Singh- Weightlifting (Men’s 109 kg) – Bronze
  • Deepak Nehra- Wrestling (Men’s 97 kg)- Bronze
  • Mohit Grewal- Wrestling (Men’s 125 kg)- Bronze
  • Anshu Malik- Wrestling (Women’s 57 kg)- Silver
  • Pooja Sihag- Wrestling (Women’s 76 kg)- Bronze
  • Pooja Gehlot- Wrestling (Women’s 50 kg)- Bronze
  • Indian Women’s Cricket Team- Silver

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