Antim Panghal returned home on Sunday after defending her world junior championships title in style and was back on the mat by the evening. The 19-year-old, India’s new wrestling sensation, is staring at a huge workload in only her first year in the senior international circuit.
She will have to take the trials for the world championships in Patiala from Friday. Chances are that she will make it to the team and then get ready for two biggest competitions of her career — World Championships (Sep 16-24) and Asian Games (Oct 4-7) within a span of a few weeks.
It means that till the Asian Games, Antim would have gone through the painful process of weight cutting a staggering four times in six weeks – a scenario that can result in injury for the talented youngsters. Antim’s normal weight, for example, is 57-58 kg. She will have to cut five to six kilos every time, a process that starts a week before the competition or trials. Earlier, there was talk about one selection trials for the Asian Games and World Championships. That could have saved her from expending energy in at least one competition, and instead shift focus to two major events. However, the ad hoc panel – it currently runs the sport – conducting two separate trials means it has just added to her workload.
“It will be difficult to compete in so many competitions in such a short time. It takes a week to recover from a competition, but I have no choice. I have to take the trials for worlds. I cannot cut down on my training but maybe I will focus more on recovery and take good care of my diet and training,” says Antim, who bagged silver at the Asian Championships in April in her first senior appearance at international level.
The Asian Games trials were held on July 23 where she won three bouts. Antim had petitioned the Delhi high court against the ad hoc panel’s decision to give world championships medallist Vinesh Phogat a direct entry in her 53kg category for the Asian Games. Phogat, one of the faces of the wrestlers’ protest, later pulled out due to a knee injury, paving the way for Antim (kept in reserves) to compete in the Asiad.
Antim’s coach Vikas Bharadwaj says it is always a risk to reduce weight too many times in such a small window.
“In Jordan (U-20 worlds), she had to show weight twice – on August 17 and then before the final the next day. She again has to give weight for trials in four days. The body will feel weak. She has not recovered from the rigours of competition,” says Bhardwaj. The trials for the worlds are on August 25 and 26.
“When you lose weight, you can regain it within 10 days, but it takes about two months to regain strength. I won’t push her much in training. I will reduce her load and we have to focus on her diet for fats recovery. That’s all we can do now.”
There was so much uncertainty and delay over the trials that it caused much anxiety for the wrestlers. “We first heard there will be one trial but don’t know why they are having another trial within a month.”
It is not only Antim, but several others from the medal-winning squad in Jordan will also take the worlds trials. India finished with a record haul of three gold, one silver and three bronze, pipping women’s wrestling powerhouses Japan and the USA to finish at the top the medals tally for the first time.
Bajrang asked to prove fitness
It was learnt that Bajrang Punia has been asked to prove his fitness before the Asian Games as he looks to skip the world championships trials. The Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist has sent a proposal to travel to Kyrgyzstan for training from August 21 in preparation for the Hangzhou Games. But no exemption has been provided to any wrestler for the trials. It was learnt that Sports Authority of India has asked Punia to appear for the trials or provide a fitness certificate.
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