Haryana girls strike gold — in 55 kg weightlifting and 61 kg wrestling

“My whole family eagerly awaits summers as it brings more repair work of fans and coolers to my father in the village. This way, he can earn enough to keep the household ration last. The first thing I noticed on coming here to the games was the presence of so many lights and fans and wished that my father could repair them to earn more money (laughs). To win the first weightlifting gold medal in these games for Haryana is a special feeling for me and my whole family,” said Usha while speaking with The Indian Express.

It was in 2017 that Usha opted for weightlifting at the Government Senior Secondary School in Rohtak and would win a bronze medal in school national games in Guwahati the same year. A year later, Usha shifted base to Rajasthan to train under coach Dushyant Malik and the youngster won the silver medal in junior national weightlifting championship in Bodhgaya in 2019, followed by the gold medal in Khelo India games in Guwahati representing Rajasthan in 2020. In 2020, the youngster was selected for the SAI centre in Lucknow and it meant that she would not have to worry about her training expenses. In the junior national weightlifting championship in Patiala, she won the bronze medal, followed by a bronze medal in this year’s junior nationals.

Coaches Gopal Sharma and Pawan Sharma of SAI centre, Lucknow rate Usha high. “Her biggest strength is her will power. Prior to this competition, she had suffered a spine injury yet she wanted to compete here. She has a clean lift but we need to work hard on her first pull. Hopefully she can improve further,” says Gopal Sharma.

Later in the day, at the Tau Devi Lal Sports Complex, 16-year-old Savita Dalal of Tilana village near Rohtak won the gold with a win over Shikha of Haryana in the women’s 61 kg category. Hailing from a family of wrestlers with her great grandfather, grandfather and father being wrestlers, Savita’s feat was watched by her father Sunil and coach Mandeep Singh, coach of Rio Olympics bronze medallist Sakshi Malik. Dalal had become the school national champion thrice before she won the bronze in U-15 category in the junior nationals early this year. “My family has always supported me as a wrestler. Our joint family owns five acre of farm and that’s the only source of income. While I fought in village dangals earlier, to win medals on mat in the nationals boosted my confidence,” said Savita.

Coach Mandeep believes Savita can only improve with more exposure on mat wrestling. “Her endurance is her main strength and her standing attacks are good. She needs to improve her leg attacks as well defensive skills and we will work on these further,” the coach said.