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Two-time bronze medallist at the World Championships, Vinesh Phogat is anticipated to compete at the Polyak Imre and Varga Janos Memorial match in Budapest early next month. This will be her first match after a long break from wrestling of 10 months. In a meeting on Tuesday between representatives from the government's TOP scheme and the sports committee, the 28-year-old's name was cleared.
Since it has not yet conducted the selection trials, the ad-hoc committee was originally reluctant to send any entries for the Budapest event, but an email was sent by Vinesh Phogat on 13 June to Sports Authority of India, informing that she wanted to be a part of the tournament. As it was the last day to send entries, SAI informed the ad-hoc body to speak to UWW and ask for an extension to send entries. On Tuesday, it was decided that Vinesh's name will be sent to the organizers for the tournament.
The wrestlers' protest against former WFI President Brij Bhushan for sexual harassment was spearheaded by Vinesh Phogat, along with bronze medallists Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia from the Rio Games and the Tokyo Olympics. In the uprising against the WFI President, Vinesh stood at the forefront of the movement. The three grapplers missed the Zagreb (February), Alexandria (February) and Bishkek (June) ranking series as well as the Asian Championships in April.
The names of her coach and physiotherapist have also been cleared for the July 13-16 event. “We’ve cleared the names of Sudesh (coach) and (physio) Ashwini Patil to accompany her. Those names were suggested by Vinesh,” Bajwa added.
