Bajrang, Vinesh emerge new superstars of Indian wrestling in 2018

TIL Desk Sports/ Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat attained superstardom with historic medals but two other history-makers found themselves grappling for relevance in a year during which Indian wrestling moved towards a hitherto unexplored contracts system. With the national federation’s decision to introduce a contracts system for 150 grapplers in India, the sport is set to be professionalised like never before.

What was more historic than this move was the way Bajrang and Vinesh meticulously went about giving solid performances through the year. It was not just the gold medals but the manner in which the two won them, which raised hopes of India getting its first gold-medallist in the sport come Olympics in less than two years’ time.

Speaking of Olympics, 2018 was largely forgettable for Sushil Kumar — India’s only double Olympic-medallist — and Sakshi Malik — the country’s first and only woman wrestler to win a medal at the biggest stage. Sushil still won gold at the Commonwealth Games, albeit in a not-so-strong field, to take comfort from but it was a stunning downward spiral that Sakshi went through. Sakshi’s CWG and Asian Games ended in tears, although she did win a bronze in the former event in Gold Coast. The 26-year-old admitted that she needs to be mentally stronger to pull off close bouts.