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Notably, the category she competed in, 50kg, does not happen to be her preferred category. The two-time World Championships bronze medallist had won both of those honours in the 53kg category.
However, with Antim Panghal having already earned a quota in the 50kg category, courtesy of her bronze triumph at the 2023 World Championships, Vinesh had participated in both 50kg and 53kg categories at the National trials on 11 March. While she was defeated in the 53kg category by Railways’ Anju, Vinesh emerged victorious in the 53kg category, beating Shivani 11-6.
What makes her achievement more remarkable is that Vinesh had to miss much of the 2023 season, wherein she had first emerged as among the prominent faces in the protest against the former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, and then, sustained a knee injury which ruled her out of the Asian Games. Prior to that, she also could not compete at the Polyàk Imre Memorial Ranking Series in Hungary owing to fever and food poisoning.
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