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New Delhi: Ace India wrestler Vinesh Phogat is going to be one of India’s best bets for medal glory in the upcoming Tokyo Olympics. Vinesh has been going through a dominating run in 2021 with a gold medal at the Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series event, in Rome. The world number 1 wrestler will look to continue her success story in the 53kg category of the Tokyo Olympics.
The 26-year-old was raised in Balali, a village in Haryana’s Charkhi Dadri district. She has been a householding name in the world of Indian wrestling for the past decade. Vinesh, who was earlier known as a cousin of Geeta and Babita Phogat, rose to fame with her first major international gold medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games. She continued her glorious run that year in Asian Games at Incheon, South Korea, with another gold medal in the 48kg category.
Vinesh went on to maintain her success in the wrestling world and won her first World Championship medal in the women’s 53 kg weight category. Phogat won the gold medal in women’s 50 kg freestyle wrestling at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast.
Her achievements were also recognized by the sports authority as she won the Arjuna Award in 2016 and Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna in 2020.
Apart from Rome, Vinesh also clinched gold medals at Asian Championship (April) and Poland Open (June) this year as a tune-up to Tokyo Olympics.
The 26-year-old is going to face a tough challenge from Mayu Mukaida, Luisa Valverde and Qianyu Pang in the quest to earn glory in Tokyo, which she failed to achieve in Rio 2016.
