Nisha Dahiya to kickstart India’s wrestling campaign at Paris Olympics 2024

India is all set to begin their campaign in wrestling at the Paris 2024 Olympics on Monday at the Champ de Mars Arena in the French capital. This will be the 21st edition of the Games, where Indian wrestlers will be featuring in. At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, India was represented by seven wrestlers, where Ravi Kumar Dahiya (men’s freestyle 57kg) and Bajrang Punia (men’s freestyle 65kg) clinched the silver and bronze, respectively. However, none of them made it through to the qualifiers for the Paris Games.
Six Indian wrestlers will compete at the Paris Olympics, with Aman Sehrawat being the only male representative. The 20-year-old Asian champion and Asian Games bronze medallist will be in action in the 57kg freestyle category. Aman, who replaced Ravi Dahiya in the category, will be one of India’s best bets at the Paris Olympics. He may not have the ability to rise from the dead like Dahiya, whose comeback was marred by injuries, but he sure does have the ability to soak in pressure and keep attacking wrestlers at bay. (Paris Olympics 2024, Day 10 Live Updates)
In the women’s division, all eyes will be on two-time Olympian Vinesh Phogat, who will compete in the 50kg category. She previously participated in the 48kg at Rio 2016 and the 53kg at Tokyo 2020. And it is not just because she is India’s most accomplished woman wrestler, with two World Championships, three CWG and eight Asian Championships medals, but because she has yet to prove her worth on the biggest stage.
In 2016, at the Rio Games, during her quarterfinal bout, Vinesh incurred a freak leg injury that cut short her campaign. Four years later, she suffered a crushing defeat ‘by fall’ in the quarterfinals and was later accused of misconduct and suspended by the WFI for several alleged transgressions. All led her to consider retirement. But Vinesh fought back and later waged a war against the WFI chief, accusing him of sexual misconduct. The long battle still continues in the courts, but it lost steam, and subsequently hurt Vinesh as she could not participate in the World Championships, where Antim Panghal locked in the Paris Olympics quota in the 53kg category. In response, she dropped to the 50kg category to make the cut, but an enormous challenge awaits the wrestler, given that she is unseeded in the draw, which comprises proven performers.
Other athletes includes Commonwealth Games silver medallist Anshu Malik (women’s 57kg), U-23 world champion Reetika Hooda (women’s 76kg), India’s only entry in the heavyweight category, and Nisha Dahiya (women’s 68kg), an Asian Championships silver medallist. All three will be making their debut at the Games in Paris.
August 5 (6:30 PM IST) Women’s 68kg (Nisha Dahiya): Qualification bouts till Semifinals
August 6 (3:00 PM IST) Women’s 50kg (Vinesh Phogat): Qualification bouts till Semifinals
August 7 (3:00 PM IST) Women’s 53kg (Antim Panghal): Qualification bouts till Semifinals
August 8 (3:00 PM IST) Men’s frestyle 57kg (Aman Sehrawat): Qualification bouts till Semifinals Women’s 57kg (Anshu Malik):
August 10 (3:00 PM IST) Women’s 76kg (Reetika Hooda): Qualification bouts till Semifinals. (The repechage and medal bouts in all categories will played a day after quarterfinals).