NEW DELHI, April 29: Vinesh Phogat will return to competitive wrestling with a switch in weight class, moving up to 57kg for the National Open Ranking Tournament 2026 in Gonda,
Uttar Pradesh, scheduled from May 10 to 12.
The national meet will mark her first appearance since the Paris 2024 Olympics and serve as a pathway towards the qualification for the upcoming Asian Games in Japan, scheduled from September 19 to October 4.
The 31-year-old Indian wrestler had announced her retirement a day after failing to make weight for the gold-medal bout at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
However, in December 2025, she reversed her retirement decision, setting her sights on the LA 2028 Olympics. The period away from the mat also saw a personal milestone, with Vinesh becoming a mother in July last year.
Vinesh, a member of the famed Phogat sisters, had reached the final of the women’s 50kg event at Paris 2024 with a series of standout wins.
She beat Tokyo 2020 champion Yui Susaki of Japan, 2019 European Championships gold medallist Oksana Livach of Ukraine and Pan American Games winner Yusneylis Guzman
of Cuba en route to the Paris 2024 final. Vinesh has frequently switched weight categories,
driven by a mix of injuries and domestic competition.
She began in 48kg, winning Asian Games bronze in 2014 and Asian Championships silver in 2015, before oscillating between divisions in the lead-up to the Rio 2016 Olympics, where she featured in the 48kg. Subsequent years saw her compete across 55kg and 53kg, with her most significant success coming in the latter.
Vinesh clinched gold medals at the 2018 Asian Games and Commonwealth Games in 53kg,
a category in which she also secured both her World Championships medals and competed
at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
The upcoming event in Gonda will now mark her fifth weight-category shift – and her first outing in 57kg.
(UNI)
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