Sakshi Malik stages a remarkable comeback after going 5-0 down to win the Bronze for India in the 58 kg category and also becomes the first
Indian female wrestler to win a medal at the Olympics. It took us 12 days to open our account at Rio but the dream has finally been realised. Before the facile win Sakshi had lost 2-9 in the quarter-finals to Russia’s Valeriia Koblova in the fifth bout of the day before getting a second chance in recharge when her conqueror reached the final. It was an agonising two-three hours wait for her as she could live up to the expectations of the country
men in sudden burst in the final few seconds, which helped her to win bronze in the end. Like in three of the four other bouts earlier in the
day, Sakshi won the crucial bout after coming from behind. In fact, Sakshi’s winning move that got her two points initially was challenged
by her Kyrgyztan rival and it was reviewed. She was awarded an extra point by the judges much to her rival’s chagrin. Sakshi, who
qualified through second Olympic Games World Qualifying Tournament in Istanbul, battled social biases and sexism to learn wrestling. Sakshi
took up the sport when she was just nine years old. Her wholehearted efforts paid fruits for her and a medal for India. PV Sindhu made history for Indian badminton when she reached the final of the women’s singles event after beating Nozomi Okuhara 21-19, 21-10 in the semi-final and assured herself and country of a silver medal.
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
