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          Vinesh Phogat, Anshu and Reetika win Paris Olympics quota at Asian Olympic Qualifiers

          Vinesh Phogat celebrates with the Indian flag at the 2022 Commonwealth Games Bradley Collyer/PA Images via Getty Images
          • Shyam Vasudevan
          Apr 20, 2024, 12:40 PM

          Vinesh Phogat won a quota for the 2024 Paris Olympics, defeating Laura Ganikyzy in the 50kg semifinal of the Asian Olympic Qualifiers on Saturday.

          This competition marked her return to international wrestling after sustaining an injury on her left knee last August, that required surgery. The win takes her one step closer to competing at her third straight Olympics, but does not confirm her spot. In wrestling, the quota won by the athlete belongs to the country and not the individual.

          Anshu Malik [57kg] and Reetika [76kg] also earned Olympic quotas, while Mansi [62kg] went down at the final step.

          Competing in the 50kg category as opposed to her usual 53kg division [where Antim Panghal has already won an Olympic quota], Vinesh began in commanding fashion as she earned a facile win over South Korea's Miran Cheon. This was followed by a dominating display as she needed just a little over a minute to pin Cambodia's Samnang Dit and progress to the semifinals.

          The format of the Asian Olympic Qualifiers is such that the winners of the two semifinals, i.e. the two finalists, are awarded a quota for the Paris Olympics.

          Standing between her and a quota was Ganikyzy, a former U23 Asian Championships bronze medallist. Ganikyzy got off to an aggressive start and looked keen to get the scoreboard ticking, but Vinesh held her on and played on the defence.

          That saw Vinesh put on the activity clock 90 seconds into the bout and Vinesh immediately sprung into action to score two points. She kept up the pressure to inflict another takedown in the dying seconds of the opening round to lead 4-0. The second period belonged completely to Vinesh as earned two points for exposure, before rolling Ganikyzy twice for six more points and a win via Technical Superiority.

          This is her first international competition since winning bronze at the 2022 World Championships. Returning to the mat after 16 months, Vinesh won gold in 55kg at the Indian nationals in February this year and finished first in 50kg division in March's selection trials. This is also her first major outing since she played a prominent role in the wrestlers' protest against former Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh for alleged sexual harassment of women's wrestlers.

          Anshu and Reetika join Vinesh

          Anshu had a relatively easy route to the semifinals as the 57kg category had only eight participants and hence the competition directly began at the quarterfinal stage. She was up against Kyrgyzstan's Kalmira Bilimbekova and Anshu, who won silver at the 2021 World Championship, needed all of three minutes to wrap up the victory on Technical Superiority.

          Up next, she took on Uzbekistan's Laylokhon Sobirova - a silver medallist at the 2023 Asian Championships and a former Asian Juniors champion - for her second successive Olympic berth. Despite her credentials, Sobirova was of little match to Anshu as the Indian inflicted a takedown and then rolled the Uzbek over to race to a 6-0 lead. It was a matter of time before Anshu closed in on the win as she rolled over Sobirova twice again to seal the contest inside the opening period.

          Reetika, the U23 world champion, earned her maiden Olympic quota. She had a routine win over South Korea's Eunju Hwang in the opening round and the Indian then outclassed Mongolia's Davaanasan Enkh Amar in her second bout. Reetika wrapped up the group stage with nervy win over China's Juang Wang. Reetika held a comfortable 8-0 lead at the end of the first period, but the Chinese fought back with a takedown and trailed by just two. She nearly made it 8-8 at the death but ran out of time, and Reetika snapped up the win to top the group.

          She faced Chinese Taipei's Hui Tsz Chang in the semifinals and was in the ascendancy from the get-go. A couple of takedowns gave her the lead and a third later into the contest saw her clinch the win and her maiden Olympics breth.

          Why does a quota not guarantee an Olympic berth?

          In India, a quota-winning wrester's participation in the 2024 Paris Olympics depends on the Wrestling Federation of India [WFI].

          Sanjay Singh, the elected president of the WFI, had said that the federation will use its selection guidelines to decide whether the quota-winning wrestler is the best athlete for the Games, or if a final selection trial is required to identify the best wrestler in each category.

          The current selection guidelines say "...the Selection Committee of WFI will have the discretion to hold a trial for participation in the Olympic Games. However, it will not be compulsory that all the quota earned wrestlers will be asked to appear in trials. And if the trials are held, the quota winner will not appear in the initial trials in that particular category, rather he/she will compete with the winner of those trials. And if the quota-winner loses the bout to the trials' winner, he/she will be given one more opportunity to keep the quota through a second bout against the same opponent."

          Two points to note here: the WFI has the authority to decide whether a trial is needed or not. Secondly, they also have the power to decide who appears in these trials, if one is held.