Anshu Malik heaved a sigh of relief as she made it to the India team for her maiden Commonwealth Games, starting July 28 in Birmingham, during the 57kg trials in Lucknow.
She sat down on the stairs of the newly constructed wrestling hall at the Sports Authority of India and covered her face with her palms.
“This is what I was looking for since my loss at the Tokyo Olympics. It’s going to be one more step of success in my career. I would like to make full use of the opportunity to make the country proud at the Commonwealth Games,” said Anshu.
Anshu, the first Indian wrestler to win a silver medal at the women’s world championship in 2021, felt her preparations were on track. Even her loss in the final came after an exemplary exhibition of grit and courage.
Despite an ankle injury in the quarter-finals and nursing a previous elbow injury, she did her best before losing to two-time Olympic medallist Helen Maroulis of the USA in the final.
“My loss in the repechage round at Tokyo taught me many things. Since then, I am working on all aspects of my technique. Training is (going on) well and I am heading in the right direction to achieve success at the CWG,” she added.
Anshu, who has grown from being a promising junior to one of Indian women’s wrestling’s biggest names, has medals of all colours in the Asian Championship. And now she aims to change in the colour of her medal at the forthcoming World Championships in September at Belgrade.
“One should always keep working hard to move forward and I am thinking on the same lines.”
“Postponement of the Asian Games is a bit disappointing as I was well prepared for the event,” she said.