Indian wrestlers will win 'at least 3 medals' in Paris, says Sakshi Malik

MUMBAI: Sakshi Malik had to crane her neck to get a decent view of the short video clip that began to play on the big screen above her. It would have been footage she would have probably seen several times, but she still beamed as if transported back to that historic moment in Rio nearly eight years ago when she staged a rousing comeback to become the first Indian female wrestler to bag an Olympic medal.
At a panel discussion organised by the JSW Group here on Friday, Sakshee would speak proudly of the scale of change she has seen take place in her hometown Rohtak ever since she returned from the Rio Games with that historic bronze.Apart from shattering stereotypes, she's also had to fight hard to bring about change at administrative level, as the famed protests she led against former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Singh over sexual harassment allegations, would indicate.
No wonder then she would point proudly to the gender ratio of the six Indian wrestlers who have qualified for the Paris Olympics to highlight just how much things have changed.
"There was a time when people believed that girls couldn't wrestle, but today, this has changed. For the first time, five girls are going to the Olympics for wrestling while only one boy is going. Girls, who were once suppressed, are now boldly stepping forward and excelling in wrestling," said Sakshi, drawing applause from the audience.
"The misconceptions that girls are impure and shouldn't participate in wrestling have been debunked. After my medal win, no one enters wrestling merely thinking about securing a job or a benefit. They now start with the goal of winning an Olympic medal. This shift in mindset is incredibly inspiring."
Speaking of winning medals, the 31-year-old, who quit the sport after current WFI president Sanjay Singh, an aide of Brij Bhushan, was elected to head the governing body last December, is confident that India's six-member contingent should win "at least 3 medals".
"In wrestling, we should get at least three medals," said Sakshi, who also has high expectations of India's overall showing in Paris. "I feel this is going to be our best ever Olympics. The girls will perform better."
India's six-member wrestling squad for Paris comprises Vinesh Phogat (50kg), Antim Panghal (53 kg), Anshu Malik (57kg), Nisha Dahiya (68kg) and Reetika Hooda (76kg), with Aman Sehrawat (57 kg) the lone male qualifier.
Could there have been more medal hopefuls had the protests not taken place? "Nothing like that," Sakshi said. "When the protests were on, the girls continued their training safely at home, the result of which you saw was that five girls have qualified. Never had five women wrestlers qualified before. So the protests had no impact on qualification."