Budapest: Pooja Dhanda became only the fourth Indian woman grappler and first in six years to win a medal at the World Championship, grabbing a bronze with a stunning 10-7 win over the 2017 European champion Grace Jacob Bullen, here on Thursday.
One of the two wrestlers in a medal contention, the 24-year-old Pooja executed a four-point throw in each of the two periods in the 57kg contest to deliver the best performance of her career.
It is theĀ second big medal for Pooja this season, having won a silver the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast earlier this year. Only Alka Tomar (2006), Geeta (2012) and Babita Phogat (2012) have won bronze medals for India at the Worlds before Pooja’s memorable medal victory. It is India’s second medal at the ongoing championship after Bajrang Punia’s silver medal performance in the men’s freestyle 65kg category.
“It’s a proud feeling for me. I have done my country proud with this medal. I am very happy with this effort. In the beginning,Ā I had a chance for a counter-attack and I got a good lead. I was confident that I will pull it off,’ said an elated Pooja Dhanda.
Asked about her opponent, Pooja said she came prepared to tackle her. “Bullen is strong with her upper body, I had seen her bouts, so my coaches planned that I block my arms and work on the lower body. So attacked on the legs and got points,” she explained her strategy.
Pooja said being in the brackets of world beaters made her job tough but having a win over Olympic and World champion Helen Maroulis at the start of the year, had boosted her confidence.
“I was in the lower bracket, which had Olympic and world champions. But I had beaten Olympic gold medallist (at Pro Wrestling League in January), so my confidence was high.’
Pooja said she now wants to win an Olympic medal. “My next target is the Olympics. I feel very confident. I need to work on little things. I will come back to the mat with proper preparation.” Pooja opened up a 4-1 lead with a throw, which she found on the counter-attack. She consolidated it with a roll and took a 6-1 lead after the end of the first period. After conceding a point for a step out, Pooja Stunned the Norwegian with another four-point
throw, to zoom to a 10-2 lead.
Grace reduced the gap with a takedown and a couple of push outs to put pressure on the Indian, who was cautioned twice. She somehow managed to avoid the third caution, holding off to lead. She had earlier erased a three-point deficit to win her repechage round 8-3 against Alyona Kolesnik from Azerbaijan.