Divya Kakran determined to make a big comeback after shocking defeat at the senior nationals

It was a huge disappointment for young wrestler Divya Kakran to lose at the first round of the senior national wrestling championships last week. However, it has also motivated her to prepare harder for future events. She is headed towards the upcoming trials and therefore she is preparing hard to make amends.

The 22-year-old Asian Champion in the 68kg category was handed a rude awakening as he lost in her first-round duel at the senior national in Agra last week. While it was a huge shock for the youngster it was also a lesson to train harder and never take anything for granted.

Divya was diagnosed with COVID-19 and was gradually making all the progress to be in her best shape. This was the first match where she made her return and it did not go as per plan for the Arjuna Awardee. The 22-year old lost out to Rajani from Uttar Pradesh with a scoreline of 8-6.

Although it was a shocking result, Divya who won the bronze medal at the 2018 Asian Games was not too concerned about the defeat. “I am training hard at my centre in New Delhi and hope to make the Indian team as I will surely be participating in the national trials that will determine who goes for the Olympic trials,” Divya Kakran told Hindustan Times.

A national camp of women wrestlers is held in Lucknow but Divya is missing that camp. Only medallists from each category were called to that camp. Also, the camp has called a total of 40 grapplers from 10 weight categories.

Another renowned wrestler who is missing the camp despite being a medalist is Pooja Dhanda. Pooja is missing the national camp as she wanted to focus more on her national trails and hence she missed the senior nationals. She has won bronze at the 2018 World Championships.

“I have to lose weight to compete in 57kg. It will lead to a loss of stamina and strength. That’s why I have decided to skip the nationals. I will now compete in trials for the qualifiers,” Pooja had said.

Right after the camp which will end on March 31, the national trials will start to select the Indian team for the Asian Olympic Qualifiers scheduled on April 9-11 followed by the Asian Wrestling Championship from April 13-18. Both the events will take place in Almaty, Kazakhstan.