Rio 2016: Spirited Sakshi Malik takes bronze to end India's medal drought

Rio de Janeiro A diminutive 23yearold girl from Mokhra village near Rohtak in Haryana Sakshi Malik touched glory at the Rio Olympics on Wednesday by reaching out and grabbing the only medal India has been able to win at the 31st OlympiadIndias bronze medallist Sakshi Malik stands on the podium at the end of the womens 58kg freestyle wrestling event at the Carioca Arena 2 in Rio de Janeiro PicAFPWhats even more astonishing is that she is the only women wrestler from the village which has produced several achievers in the fieldSakshi brought an end to Indias long medal wait when every hopeful had failed one by one She clinched the bronze in the Womens Freestyle 58kg category with a spirited comeback victory over Aisuluu Tynybekova of KyrgyzstanThe young wrestler overturned a 05 deficit in a hectic second round to script an 85 victory in the medal bout at the Carioca Arena 2 in RioI have stood up to the hopes of the country for the first medal I was confident that I can win in the end even being down The last two hours were the most difficult for me thinking whether the medal will come or not she said in her initial comments soon after winningThis is the first time that a medal has come for women Its a success of my 12 years of dedication My hard work has succeeded Sakshi saidIt was a rousing display of fighting spirit and neversaydie attitude from the IndianAisuluu was clearly the superior wrestler in the totally onesided opening round displaying impressive strength and technique to take five points and open up a formidable leadBut Sakshi who has previously shown a knack of staging strong comebacks was a totally transformed grappler in the second round taking eight consecutive points to send the sizable number of Indian fans in the stands into wild deliriumKaori Icho of Japan won the gold medal in the category while Russias Valeria Koblova who had defeated Sakshi in the quarterfinals took the silverEighttime African champion Marwa Amri of Tunisia took home the other bronze medal in the categoryIcho also created history by becoming the firstever wrestler to win four Olympic titles She is also the first female in any sport to win gold at four Olympics in an individual eventSakshis medal capped another day of heartbreaks for India including an unfortunate injury to Vinesh in the womens 48kg Freestyle category that forced her out of the competitionTo those who told me I am a girl and I could not wrestle I want to say please show some trust in girls they can do everything she saidLater at an impromptu press conference Sakshi was asked if she was still feeling the pain from the battering during the match After the medal all the pain has gone If I had missed the medal all the aches would have shown up she said beamingI was confident till the end that the medal was there and I told myself you have to fight Thats why I attacked again and again succeeding after a lot of effort she said adding that the medal was dedicated to every person who helped me along my parents my coaches and my training partnersShe said she was disturbed and her mind got diverted when Vinesh her wrestling colleague was injured in another bout and had to be carried away on a stretcher But then I thought I must redouble my efforts to get a medal which she would also have gotShe broke out in applause yayyyyy when someone told her that her name would now be taken in the same breath as Yogeshwar Dutt and Sushil Kumar the earlier bronze medal winnersWhen I used to see them I was in awe how I would be able to even train with them My idols have been men like Sushil Kumar who paved the way for our success she saidRight from the beginning the Kyrgyz grappler displayed impressive strength and was more active in the opening stages which forced Sakshi to go on the defensiveHowever the referee invoked the passivity rule against Sakshi which handed the Kyrgyz the first pointAisuluu then made a successful takedown to bag another two points Aisuluu continued to pile on the pressure and bagged another couple of points with another successful tackle to build up a healthy 50 lead at the breakSakshi made a superb comeback in the second round turning a defensive position into an offensive one to bag two points before flipping the Kyrgyz over to bag another couple of pointsWith the momentum firmly behind her Sakshi continued to pile on the pressure before drawing level with another twopointerWith just seconds remaining in the bout the Indian pulled off another takedown to take the lead and make sure of the winThere was a visible sigh of relief among officials and coaches Her coach of eight years Kuldeep Singh said his heartbeat had increased after she was five points down as they were of all IndiansHe said he told her during the break that she should untwine her fingers from the opponent and go for her legs She did that and gained two points and then went on to win a matchHe said her strength lay in her ability to attack with both the legs I had a lot of hope before the match and I kept on telling her the medal was hers to takeThe Indian chief coach by the same name Kuldeep Singh said that the bronze medal match was the best one because she showed her true value by coming back from a very low pointDuring the break we explained to her the mistakes she was making The opponent was placing the weight of her body on Sakshi without moving her legs So we advised that Sakshi should divert her weight and attack her he saidEarlier Sakshi had crashed out of contention for the gold medal after a onesided 29 loss to Valeria in the quarterfinals Sakshi who trailed 01 after the first period made a comeback in the initial minutes of the second period to go 21 upShe however failed to maintain the lead as the Russian overpowered her with some incredible moves to take an unassailable 92 lead in the dying minutes But with Valeria later making it to the final Sakshi qualified for the repechage round for a shot at the bronze medalShe started her bid for the bronze in superb fashion by defeating Orkhon Purevdorj of Mongolia 123 in the Repechage Round 2 to move within striking distance of a medal The Haryana wrestler was too superior for the 22yearold Mongolian and dominated right from the startSakshi grabbed the early advantage and effected a takedown to take a 20 lead But a loss of balance from Sakshi allowed the Mongolian to take two points and make a comeback Sakhshi did catch Orkhon offguard with an armlock towards the end of the first round but could not capitalise on thatSakshi grabbed the initiative right at the start of the second round baging two points with double leg holdBut Sakshis efforts to preserve her lead by decreasing the pace cost her dearly as the referee invoked the passivity rule against her which allowed Orkhon to bag another pointOrkhon then tried to go for a leg hold but Sakshi came up with an effective counterattack to bring the Mongolian down before rolling her over to bolster her leadWith a comfortable 103 lead behind her Sakshi produced a strong finish by coming up with another take down in the closing seconds