India’s Newly-Crowned Under-17 World Champion Neha Sangwan, Emerges From Vinesh Phogat’s Village

New Delhi: Wrestler Vinesh Phogat received a grand welcome in Balali village on her return from Paris last week. 16-year-old Neha Sangwan, stayed awake the whole night and waited for the wrestler to drape her with the garland made of currency notes.

A few moments later, Vinesh Phogat who missed out on an Olympic medal because she failed the weigh-in on the morning of the final in Paris, spoke about her wish to see women wrestlers from the village follow in her footsteps and became the inspiration for them to make a name for themselves.

Vinesh was in tears as she didn’t have to wait long to see the next generation make a mark. She was living her dream of wanting women to do something for themselves and not look back to the bad circumstances.

On Thursday evening, Neha clinched victory in the Under-17 World title in the 57 kg category with a 10-0 win over Japan’s So Tsutsui in Amman, Jordan.

“It’s a huge thing for me and this title is for Vinesh Didi and all the women wrestlers. Vinesh didi remains an inspiration for us all and this world title will inspire the women wrestlers back in Balali village as well India too,” Neha expressed towards media.

His father Amit Kumar Sangwan could hardly believe that his daughter had made the village proud just days after Vinesh’s stirring speech.

“Neha had spent the whole afternoon getting the garland made for Vinesh’s welcome last week. When she had gone on stage, Vinesh would tell her that girls like her should complete her dream. To see Neha win her first world title would have made Vinesh happy too today. It’s a special feeling for the whole of Balali village too,” Sangwan, a Former Sarpanch of the village, said.

Back in 2016, Sangwan enrolled his daughter at the academy that was run by coach Mahavir Phogat in the village of Jhojhu Kalan. After clinching victories in Junior National tournaments and becoming a Haryana state champion, Neha would change coaches. She used to train at an Akhada named Krishan Akhada under coach Sajan Singh Mandola hoping Neha would continue to train with an eye on a big international medal. Her father used to drop her at the Akhada twice a day on a scooter.

“She had the instinct to attack but then the opponents would take advantage of her weak defence. So I had to make her quicker on the mat. She would run in the fields to build stamina and also cut down on weight. I would also make her wrestler against lower-weight category wrestlers in order to help her gain some speed on the mat. Slowly, she learnt to take advantage of her movement and speed and to make the counters,” Mandola says.