The Brutal Rule - Wrestling Fiasco

The Brutal Rule - Wrestling Fiasco

The opening ceremony of the greatest sporting event in the world, the Olympics, took place in Los Angeles, United States of America. The opulent Olympic Village housed thousands of athletes who had come from all parts of the world. Even the Indian contingent went to America with a myriad of hopes to win medals. The glittering opening ceremony caught the eyeballs of the entire world thanks to its mind-boggling events. The United States of America yet again proved why it was the big brother of the world. Qualifying for the mega event in itself is a huge achievement, let alone winning medals. Anju from India was one of the five wrestlers who had qualified for Los Angeles. She hailed from Haryana. She had come from a very poor background. Her father worked as a farmer and her mother was a homemaker. In childhood, she developed a tremendous interest in wrestling sport. Her father noticed her skills and immediately pleaded with the Wrestling Federation of India to groom her. Initially, they had rejected his plea, but when they saw her exceptional skills, they enrolled her. She evolved as a professional wrestler and won a gold medal both in Commonwealth and Asian games. The Olympic medal always eluded her. She had succumbed to a serious injury in the last Olympics which had sent her medal dreams up in the smoke. She was comfortably leading in the quarter-final bout before she picked a freak injury that ended her campaign in tears. 

India did not get off to a great start in the Olympics, as our athletes were disappointed with mediocre performances. USA and China fought neck to neck to occupy the pole position in the medal table whereas India struggled to win even a single bronze medal. Crores of Indian sport lovers glued to the television donned solemn faces as they couldn't celebrate the joy of winning medals. After six days, India managed to win two bronze medals in the shooting which put the Indian fans on cloud nine. Then the wrestling sport kicked off in style. One of the Indian wrestlers qualified for the quarter-finals but lost owing to technical superiority. Anju was in action the next day. She knew what had happened in the previous Olympics, the nightmare that had haunted her for a long time. She had trained well this time and had a huge hope of winning a medal for the country. Wrestling is such a sport where all your dreams can be squashed in a matter of minutes. The draw was announced, and shockingly, she was up against the world No. 1 Chinese wrestler, Yoshiki. The Chinese wrestler had never lost a game in the international arena and she was nothing but invincible. The mixture of technique, intelligence and agility made her a daring figure in the wrestling sport. Indian fans lost their hopes since they knew it would need a miracle to defeat Yoshiki. Anju had fought against Yoshiki twice before but had ended up a loser. She did not worry about her opponent but rather worked on her skills. She knew if she did well, anything could happen. Nobody would forever remain as infallible.

The sun rose to his throne the next day. The women grapplers got themselves ready to fight in the 53kg category. Yoshiki looked confident and trained hard and her only aim was to win the coveted gold medal. She had already won a gold medal at the last Olympics and she was the favourite to repeat that feat. Anju recited Lord Hanuman's verse before she walked into the arena. The thunderous applause echoed through the hall as both the grapplers made their way into the arena. Yoshiki's eyes smouldered with embers of confidence and courage. Anju had a beacon of hope in her heart which refused to subside. She believed she could do it. She couldn't afford to worry about the previous encounters and her opponents' undefeated stats. The reality is the match starts from zero. The referee said, "Start"
Both of them go defensive at the start expecting their opponent to go for the attack. The Chinese wrestler grabbed a two-point lead, and the round one is done. Not much hopes on Indian fans as they looked to be drowned in gloom. Anju did not lose hope, and she believed that if she could strike at the right time, anything could happen. Yoshiki did not allow Anju to strike and she had answers to all her questions. With just ten seconds to go, it looked like the match was done and dusted. Anju showed the presence of mind and attacked her opponent with full force and the latter lost balance as she wasn't prepared for it. Could you believe it? The referee has given three points to Anju and the stopwatch raced to zero. Yoshiki couldn't believe her eyes; she seemed to find it hard to grapple with the reality. Anju had done what others never could. She just defeated the world 1, Yoshiki who had never lost on the international stage. This is nothing but an extraordinary feat achieved by the Indian grappler. Both of them embraced and Yoshiki accepted the defeat gracefully. Her coach challenged the referee's decision but in vain. Anju qualified for the quarter-finals, and the whole of India erupted in joy. The social media was flooded with congratulatory messages and this victory was huge. She had joys of tears welled up in her eyes which reflected her never give up attitude. She never looked unconvincing in the bout and struck at the right time even when she was trailing. Her coach couldn't believe what he just saw. Now the expectations grew multifold following this monumental achievement.