Grappling with new territory

Renu, Nirmal and Niresh, three members of the camp, are all slim, petite and in the course of the conversation, come across as the-girls-next-door8217;.

As 18-year-old Renu Bala puts it, 8220;in wrestling, speed and quick thinking is of the essence, not muscle.8221; Renu, Nirmal Kaur and Niresh Kaur are from Punjab, along with a couple of others. There are a few from Haryana, some from Delhi, Manipur, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat. These are girls who have taken to the sport despite opposition from families, ridicule from friends and sometimes even after being branded as not being froman 8220;achcha khaandan8221; good family. They have entered a field where a broken or swollen ear is practically the norm; where the type of training they need to do leads to knobbly knees and sore backs; where they have to get over their initial inhibitions about the dress worn by wrestlers Nirmal calls it the katta-huan kapda 8212; cut piece of cloth ; and they have a job at hand 8220;to win over suspicious male wrestlers.8221;

According to them, most of the women wrestlers here are ex-judokas, who find the going easier as the techniques are similar. 8220;Except,8221; smiles Niresh, 8220;some things, which take a little time. In judo you are standing, in wrestling, there8217;s a lot of bending. In wrestling, you get a point for moving back, in judo, it8217;s a foul.8221;

Renu, formerly an athlete, says: quot;Near, where I trained in Faridkot, there was a men8217;s multi-gym where I was introduced to this sport.8221; She had her head constable father8217;s support. 8220;He told me that athletics has too much competition, I should opt forthis as it is a new sport.8221;

Nirmal, who has three brothers who are all uninterested in sports, was also encouraged by her parents. She says she has nothing to lose. If she does well, she will continue, if she doesn8217;t, she may get married. But she will give it her best shot.

The camp, run by coach Hargobind Singh, began on August 16 and goes on till September 7 after which they leave for Sweden for the World Championships.

The girls are optimistic, but not too hopeful about medals. 8220;It will be an experience, as it will be the first senior camp to go abroad for competition. The girls abroad are very fast and have much more experience, women8217;s wrestling being about 10-years-old in the West,8221; says the eldest of the trio, 23-year-old Nirmal Kaur.

A junior team went to Poland earlier this month and 12-year-old Raminder Kaur returned with a bronze medal in the 38-kg category.

The seniors will be competing in six categories, 46, 51, 56, 62, 68 and 75 kgs. Renu, unfortunately, will not be in contention,as she is under age. The cut-off age for seniors is 20. She is happy to be at the camp though.