New Delhi [India], April 29 (ANI): Three-time Olympian Vinesh Phogat is about to make her return to aggressive wrestling with a change to the 57kg weight class, as she gears up for the National Open Ranking Tournament 2026 in Gonda, Uttar Pradesh, scheduled from May 10 to 12.
The nationwide meet will mark Phogat’s first aggressive look because the Paris 2024 Olympics and can function a vital step in direction of qualifying for the upcoming Asian Games in Japan, set to happen from September 19 to October 4, as per Olympics.com.
The 31-year-old Indian wrestler had earlier introduced her retirement a day after failing to make weight for the gold-medal bout on the Paris 2024 Olympics. However, in December final 12 months, she reversed her retirement choice, setting her sights on the LA 2028 Olympics.
Vinesh, a member of the famend Phogat sisters, had made it to the ultimate of the ladies’s 50kg occasion at Paris 2024, securing her spot with a sequence of spectacular victories.
She beat Tokyo 2020 champion Yui Susaki of Japan, 2019 European Championships gold medallist Oksana Livach of Ukraine and Pan American Games winner Yusneylis Guzman of Cuba en path to the Paris 2024 last.
Vinesh has steadily switched weight classes, pushed by a mixture of accidents and home competitors.
Vinesh started her profession within the 48kg weight class, the place she earned an Asian Games bronze in 2014 and a silver on the Asian Championships in 2015. In the lead-up to the Rio 2016 Olympics, she fluctuated between weight divisions earlier than finally competing within the 48kg class on the Games.
In the next years, Vinesh competed within the 55kg and 53kg weight lessons, together with her most notable success coming within the latter, the place she achieved important victories on the worldwide stage.
Vinesh claimed gold medals at each the 2018 Asian Games and Commonwealth Games within the 53kg class, the place she additionally earned her two World Championship medals. This weight class noticed her compete on the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
The upcoming occasion in Gonda will now mark her fifth weight-category shift – and her first outing in 57kg. (ANI)