She may have started dreaming of wrestling success after watching Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia but Antim Panghal now aims to do better. Having defended her Under-20 World Championships title recently in style and becoming the only Indian wrestler to do so, and preparing for the Asian Games, Antim is confident of continuing the momentum.
“I started wrestling after watching Vinesh and Bajrang but I always wanted to be like (former CWG medalist) Nirmala Boora. Vinesh is a very good wrestler and has won medals everywhere but my practice is also going good. My effort will now be to do even better than her and win even more medals. I know every wrestler will be tough and I have never been to the Asian Games before but I am working on doing well. The immediate focus, though, is the trials for the World Championships and then the actual event,” Antim said in a media interaction on August 24.
With little time to recover between events and trials recently and with little respite in the coming months, the 19-year old admitted it was tough but was confident of managing both the workload and expectations.
“My practice starts at five in the morning and you need to keep everything in mind – staying calm and focused, stretching is important, meditation to relax the mind, avoiding injuries – during training. Around competitions, diet becomes very important, I stop milk and curd also to manage the weight. I discuss everything with my coach before deciding participation but all the recent events were important.
“Yes there is some pressure after success but it also gives you confidence that you can win. I know I have to raise my level and work a lot harder to do well at the senior level; so far I have only won at the junior levels,” she said.
