By Chetan Sharma
New Delhi, Jul 2 (IANS): Olympic bronze medallist Sakshi Malik on Saturday revealed that she has gone through a tough time in the last two years but the national trials helped in getting her 'confidence' and 'mojo' back and the wrestler is determined to win the medal at the Commonwealth Games, scheduled to begin from July 28 in Birmingham.
Sakshi had grabbed a place in the 62kg weight category in the national squad in May. It had taken the 29-year-old Sakshi five bouts to finally beat her nemesis -- 20-year-old Sonam Malik -- in the selection trials to earn that place.
The 2014 Olympics wrestling bronze medallist recently won the gold medal at the UWW Ranking Series in Kazakhstan. However, the grappler believes that it was the national trial that gave her more confidence than the Ranking Series triumph.
"I have been struggling for the last two years. And when I won the trials (for CWG) I was so relieved at that time. Yes, I bagged gold in Ranking. It was also important but the win in the trials was something I felt great about.
"I can't tell how tough time was for me, losing bouts made me feel bad and I used to speak about my problems with my husband only and he would support me. I never believed in aggressive fighting, my style is simple to attack and defence but I faced rough fights too. Hair pulling and breaking fingers is what I am talking about. One of my opponents used to do it. But I believe that when you love a sport you must follow what is right. And it helped me," an emotional Sakshi told IANS.
Further talking about her preparations for CWG, she said that the training is "going great guns".
"I am working hard for the CWG and currently, I am in Lucknow. I want to win a medal in CWG and make my country proud. I have always got support from the people of my nation and I want to give it back with my good performance in Birmingham," she said.
The Indian women's team: Pooja Gehlot (50 kg), Vinesh Phogat (53 kg), Anshu Malik (57 kg), Sakshi Malik (62 kg), Divya Kakran (68 kg), Pooja Sihag (76 kg)