Vinesh Phogat celebrates after beating Yusneylis Guzman in the Women’s 50Kg Wrestling semifinal. (PTI)
All of just 29, there are few things that Vinesh Phogat has not experienced in the last two years of her life. But even by her standards of having to deal with the extraordinary, she finds herself in a land of, frankly, overwhelming firsts. Haryana’s greatest woman wrestler will be in the Paris Olympics 50 kg women’s freestyle gold medal match – a privilege earned in her third-ever Olympics. She defeated the consensus 50 kg GOAT Yui Susaki first, then took down European champion Oksana Livach and finally stuffed Cuban grappler Yusneylis Guzman in the semi-final for a Paris Olympics performance worthy of its medal. She was not the favourite, nor was she a bronze hopeful before the draw, but she will leave Paris with a medal that few have deserved as much as her.
The achievement must be put into context considering the whirlwind of last year. Phogat was the face of Indian sports big ‘Me Too’ movement where she and other wrestlers protested at Jantar Mantar against then BJP MP and WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
On Tuesday, she was a street-fighter on the mat too.
She has been on a dream run in Paris with her elite defence, the heart of the operations. And how it came clutch for her on Tuesday against Cuban veteran Yusneylis Guzman – herself a two-Olympic veteran and a multiple Pan American Games champion to boot. Barring Ukraine’s Oksana Livach, no wrestler has been able to land a takedown on the Indian, and even she had to wait until the dying moments of her match to earn a frenetic one. Every time a knee dropped and an arm reached out, three women asked a question to Phogat’s defence on Tuesday, and each was met with a resounding wall. Guzman though, it could be said, persisted the most.
Her first attempt, she actually managed to grab onto Phogat’s thigh. But the Indian first transferred her weight onto Guzman’s back and then just circled out of danger, while sprawling. It was that easy. She came back again, this time not even getting close as Phogat once again sprawled and stuffed the attempt. Her defence can handle a single-minded lunge to the leg. Guzman was offering no speed, nor was she forcing the Indian wrestler to think hard and multitask. It’s a crucial facet to beating Phogat’s defence and that level of wrestling just never materialised as the Cuban takedown crisis continued. Soon Phogat pocketed a passivity point and would lead the bout as the first series came to a close.
Phogat’s takedown, a thing of beauty
The second period began as much of the first went – excellent control, an urgent, yet languishing pace to the bout, and an opponent that couldn’t fathom the complexities and depths of a Phogat resistance – a familiar style she has been employing since last year.
India’s Vinesh Vinesh celebrates after defeating Cuba’s Yusneylys Guzman during their women’s freestyle 50kg wrestling semifinal match, at Champ-de-Mars Arena, during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP/PTI)spor
Two minutes in and the Indian went for a takedown of her own. It was a thing of beauty – one where she was controlling Guzman’s head and violently pushed it down. The Cuban instinctively tried to get back to her feet from her knees and that instant, Phogat lunged for Guzman’s right foot and turned her over. Despite circling while trying to defend her indefensible position, Guzman just couldn’t keep Phogat off her back, who wanted the takedown and wouldn’t take no for an answer. Once those two points were on the board, Phogat turned her over once and added two more to make the score 5-0. A pin looked like it was on the cards here but the 2023 Pan American champion is no easy picking herself.
From that point on, she tried to go for more takedowns but an area where even the veteran she was facing had grown, was her leg defence. Despite multiple knee injuries, Phogat’s game has continued its growth. It came in clutch when the Cuban desperately looked for hope and didn’t get her prayer answered.
Phogat faces a familiar foe in Sarah Hildebrandt on Wednesday in the gold medal match. History is calling, and it seems Phogat is all ears.
