New Delhi, Nov 1 (IANS) Fresh from her historic silver medal at the Wrestling World Championships in Kazakhstan, India's rising wrestler Kajal Dhochak said the performance has boosted her confidence that she will qualify for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
In the 76kg title clash at the World Championships, 18-year-old Kajal went up against two-time European champion Ukraine’s Anastasiya Alpyeyeva. Making her Senior World Championships debut after winning two U20 world titles, Kajal fought fiercely but lost the closely contested bout 6-8 to finish with a silver medal.
"My weight category is in the Olympics, and next year the Olympic qualifications are also going to be held. After the way I fought my bouts (in world championships), I am 100 percent confident in myself that I will secure an Olympic qualification," said Kajal, who also became the first Indian woman wrestler to clinch a medal in a heavyweight category in World Championships, replying to a query from IANS during the media roundtable on Sunday.
"I have previously defeated all the wrestlers whom I faced at the World Championships. And the one I had my final bout against; I have beaten her before too; she wasn't all that strong compared to me," she said.
Reflecting on her bout in the final against Alpyeyeva, where the Indian twice held the lead on criteria before giving up points to the Ukrainian, Kajal rued being defensive in the dying seconds instead of attacking.
Trailing 2-2 on criteria in the second period, Alpyeyeva scored a double-leg takedown, only for Kajal to respond by tripping the Ukrainian for a takedown.
But Alpyeyeva came back with another double-leg takedown, to which she added a 2-point exposure. The four-point lead became vital when Kajal came back with a takedown with 0:06 left, but ran out of time trying for a turn that would have given her the win.
"The score was 4-4, and I was practically winning. If I hadn't turned defensive in the very last moment and played attacking instead, the gold would have been mine," she added.
Talking about her shortcomings and the techniques she is working on, keeping the Olympic cycle in mind, Kajal stated, "The coaches have said that we will work a bit on defense. We shouldn't turn defensive in the dying seconds; the attacking approach we maintain at the beginning needs to be sustained right until the end. These are some of the shortcomings that we need to work on."
The World Championships silver is a huge redemption for Kajal after missing out on the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan following dramatic trials.
"In the final of the Asian Games trials, when only a few seconds were left, I felt like my selection was done. I thought, 'I'll go and hug my uncle.' But in the final seconds, the match completely flipped...It took me some time to process what I had lost. Everyone works hard for this; this event comes only once in four years... But after that, I started training for the World Championships, and now I've won a medal there," the JSW athlete recalled.
Kajal, a two-time World U20 Champion at 72kg and 76kg, is not ready to slow down, as she is getting ready to compete in Commonwealth Wrestling Championships trials, senior national championships and Pro Wrestling League.
"When everything is being done for wrestling, what is the point of taking a break? Now the trials for the Commonwealth Championships are coming up; I will give those too, followed by the Senior National Championships, then PWL, and after that, the Senior Asian Rankings will start," Kajal said.
--IANS
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