CHENNAI: She became the first Indian woman wrestler to win a medal at the World Championships when she bagged a 59kg bronze in the 2006 edition. Alka Tomar capped off the year in style with bronze in Asian Games. All these she managed while nursing a knee injury suffered a year earlier. She could have revealed the injury to the federation but fear of losing a place kept her mum.

Despite being the pioneering force in women wrestling in the country, Alka never got the recognition she deserved. Instead, the UP wrestler rema­ined in the sh­a­dow of Geeta Phogat. She too cl­in­ched gold in the 2010 CWG like Geeta but she hardly got the attention the latter received.

Taking all the indifference in her stride, Tomar is doing her best for the sport that has given her everything. “It hurts but it doesn’t matter now as I am concentrating on producing more wrestlers. I am training girls at Chaudhary Charan Singh University in Meerut,” Alka, who works as sports officer with UP Electricity Board, said.  

Speaking on India’s chances in the event, Tomar said, “Vinesh (Phogat) and Bajrang (Punia) are our best medal prospects. Sushil Kumar and Sakshi (Malik) are always medal contenders.” She might have called it a day after bagging a Commonwealth Championship gold in 2011 but Alka is not done yet. “I have requested a piece of land from the UP government for starting my academy. If my request is accepted, I wish I can make life a bit easy for these aspirants.”