Audible gasps went around as Vaishnavi Patil of Maharashtra took down Muskan of Haryana to win the trial for the World Wrestling Championships berth in the 65kg category at the wrestling hall at Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium. The atmosphere was a measure of the unexpectedness of her triumph, and the most excited were the coach and the wrestlers cheering for Vaishnavi. The 22-year-old from Kalyan, Maharashtra, won an India berth for an international event for the first time, and that too for the most prestigious tournament there is, making her win even grander.
Vaishnavi saw Sakshi Malik on the Olympic podium for the first time during the 2016 Rio Olympics and decided to take up wrestling on the mat. Maharashtra has a huge culture of mud wrestling, like Haryana, but it barely transitions to mat wrestling. However, Vaishnavi was adamant about taking up the sport she saw on TV after wrestling in mud.
“When I saw Sakshi Malik for the first time in 2016, I knew I wanted to do this. Mat wasn’t available in my area, and I used to wrestle just in mud,” Vaishnavi told The Indian Express on the sidelines. After wrestling for four years in mud, she made the switch in 2020 and shifted to Hisar to train under her coach Jasbeer at the Sushil Kumar Akhada.
“I am processing it right now. I have been constantly coming for trials, but I always miss out on the final berth. This feels like all of my hard work is finally paying off. However, this is just the start, and I have to win many more such matches,” said Vaishnavi, who was ecstatic and almost breathless after many photo requests after her win.
Vaishanvi has been a consistent presence in the wrestling selection events for the past four years. She participated in trials for the Asian Games, Asian Championships and also for the previous World Championships in 2023. However, losses in the semis and quarters would mean that she could never celebrate. “During my earlier losses, I would get depressed and sometimes wouldn’t eat after going back to the academy. But my parents and my coach would always ask me to trust the process. My father always said that your hard work is never in vain. I was losing every time, but I knew that I didn’t have to leave my zidd to get better,” said Vaishnavi.
Usually, athletes start early from the junior level in the sport of wrestling and progress gradually through the ranks to play at the senior level. Vaishanvi, however, will be playing directly at the World Championships without any pedigree at the junior level internationally, but purely with her never-say-die attitude.
Scouting a coach
Usually, athletes are scouted by coaches, but Vaishnavi did the reverse and scouted a coach for herself. During the 2020 Khelo India Youth Games in Assam, Vaishnavi saw students from a certain academy doing well and asked her father to enquire about them. “We saw Jasbeer’s sir girls doing well, and I asked my father to check where his academy is.”
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After enquiring about the whereabouts, the Patil family traveled all the way from Kalyan to Hisar. “After we came to Hisar, Coach Saab took me into his academy, and I started working slowly on my skills. I knew I had to work more than others,” she said.
Her coach, Jasbeer, concurred that there was a lot of work to be done before Vaishnavi got ready to take on other wrestlers. “Zameen aur aasmaan ka farq hai jab aayi thi aur ab mein,” Jasbeer said (There is a huge difference now from when she came here). “She is hard hard-working kid, and after training her for the past five years, today I am the happiest. I had goosebumps sitting in the corner when Vaishnavi won the bout.”
Away from home
Back in Kalyan, Dilip Patil received multiple congratulatory messages and calls from journalists enquiring about his family history amid a busy day in his dhaba. “My phone is buzzing and all of us here are very happy,” Patil told The Indian Express. “When I sent her to train in Haryana, the only dream was that my kid represents India at the highest level.”
The Patil family would take turns staying with Vaishnavi. “Sometimes her mother would stay with her for six months, sometimes her brother, and sometimes me. This time, Coach Saab told us not to worry.”
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Vaishnavi would stay in Hisar for the majority of the year, but would go back to Maharashtra to fight in Dangals. “She would go back to fight dangals, but this time I asked her parents to let her be with me as I was able to see that she is progressing rapidly,” Jasbeer said.
While this is just the first step, Vaishnavi knows where she stands and what needs to be done. “I was waiting for one chance, and I have gotten it after so many defeats, I won’t let it go in vain.”
