Three Maharashtra wrestlers seal U23 Women’s Worlds berths for first time

Facing Anjali of Haryana in the final of the trial, Vaishnavi fell behind 0-2 after the Haryana wrestler pushed her out twice. She took down Anjali before the first half ended to make it 2-2.

In the second half of the bout, Vaishnavi scored four points after she threw Anjali on the mat to make 6-2. After that big move, she earned two more points for exposure to lead 8-2.

Anjali again pushed her out to make it 3-8 before producing a late surge in the dying seconds. Vaishnavi only conceded two points and eventually won the trial 9-5 due to her immaculate defence.

“The learnings of World Championships have helped me. I have worked on my stability after coming back from the World championships,” said Vaishnavi.

Ahilya, 19, who has won gold and bronze at the U17 and U23 Asian Championships, will be going to her first-ever Worlds. “I am very excited that this is going to be my first-ever World Championships. Everybody in the family is also excited about this,” quipped Ahilya.

The teenager took to the sport after watching her father and uncle wrestle on mud, and trains at Banage village in Kolhapur. She has been progressing well through the age-group level.

On Monday, Ahilya overcame Kajal of Haryana in a tight final bout.

In the 72 kg category, Amruta avoided a late surge from Tanu Sharma to book her spot. When Amruta was leading 8-4, Tanu took two points after taking her down and attempted two more before she ran out of time and breath.

Amruta, who won back-to-back Maharashtra Kesari titles, became the first wrestler from Maharashtra to feature in the heavyweight category. The Pune grappler will be India’s representative in the 72 kg category.

“It is always too tough at the national level. We have such good competition there and I am happy to overcome this field today,” said Amruta.

While Vaishnavi has done all her training at Sushil akhada in Hisar, Haryana under coach Jasbeer, Ahilya and Amruta train at two different centres in Kolhapur district of Maharashtra.

Rough transition

Rushi Shinde, uncle of Ahilya and a former wrestler, laments the bumpy transition from mud to mat.

“Mud wrestling is big in Maharashtra but what next for the wrestlers? Mat wrestling provides a pathway for the wrestlers to bring glory for the nation,” he told The Indian Express. “I did mud wrestling and so did Ahilya’s father Shatrughn but when she took up wrestling, we wanted her to do it on mat and represent India at the global level,” he added further.

Dadaso Sopan Lavate, known to his students at SAI Kolhapur centre as Dada Lavate, explains the impact of having multiple wrestlers from Maharashtra at the global level.

“I have been coaching for more than a decade and it is good to have three girls from Maharashtra for a major event like the U23 World Championships,” he told this paper.

Dadaso, whose ward Nandini Salokhe broke the Haryana stranglehold in the 53 kg category back at 2021 Nationals, believes that more and more exposure will inspire the wrestlers and coaches alike.

“The girls who have played against these wrestlers in state championships or who spar with them on a daily basis can believe that they can also do it. Apart from the wrestlers, it also inspires the coaches at taluka and village level to work harder,” said Dadaso.

However, he believes that the transition from age group to senior level needs to be smoother. “The wrestlers from Maharashtra are doing well at the age-group level but the transition needs to be smooth from U20 to U23 and senior level. We need to work more on the strength and conditioning of these wrestlers and that will help them become physically strong,” said Dadaso.

Women’s wrestling team for U23 World Championships: Parveen (50kg), Sweety (53kg), Ahilya Shinde (55kg), Neha Sharma (57kg), Neha (62kg), Vaishnavi Patil (65kg), Mansi Lather (68kg), Amruta Pujari (72kg), Diksha Malik (76kg)