PWL played big role in Asian Games gold, says Vinesh Phogat

Gurugram: Asian Games champion Vinesh Phogat said that the Pro Wrestling League (PWL) has a big role to play in her winning the gold medal at the Asiad last year.

Elaborating the point, Vinesh said: “PWL gave me the opportunity to wrestle with some really good wrestlers, which eventually stood me in good stead during the Asian Games. I will tell you why I am saying so.

“I played Sun Yanan of China twice in PWL-3 and lost on both occasions. But I learnt a lot from those defeats. And when I learnt that I am facing Yanan in the opening bout of the Asian Games, I told myself that come what may, I shouldn’t commit the same mistakes again,” the star wrestler said on Wednesday.

“The strategy that I adopted against Yanan during that match turned out to be spot on and I was able to win that bout quite comfortably in the end,” added the 24-year-old from Balali who went on to became the first Indian woman ever to win a wrestling gold at the Asiad.

Talking about the field in the upcoming PWL season, Vinesh said that though she has defeated most Indian wrestlers who will be in the fray in this edition, she doesn’t want to be complacent and added that she respects each and every wrestler in the competition.

“However, I am sure I will have tough competition from last year’s winner and world champion Vanesa Kaladzinskaya of Belarus. I have never fought against her as we both were in the same team last year and she was also competing in a different weight category in the international arena,” Vinesh added. (IANS)

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