4.3 • 2.6K Ratings
🗓️ 25 July 2024
⏱️ 26 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
In the industrial town of Haryana in Northern India, young girls are breaking barriers training hard to become the next generation of gold medal-winning wrestlers, following their idols who have tasted Olympic glory abroad and made a stand against attitudes to women at home. But their success has come at a price. BBC journalist Divya Arya looks at what it takes for these girls to become an Indian wrestling heroine.
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0:00.0 | Next about Pulkiad Ariana Red costume versus Ronach from U.P. |
0:11.0 | A sea of red and blue costumes here in Delhi at India's biggest indoor stadium. |
0:17.0 | Young wrestlers, girls and boys, the best that India has, have come from all over the country for trials that will select the India team that goes for the Asian championship. |
0:28.0 | But if this is a window into wrestling in India, then it still feels like a boy's world. |
0:33.0 | They are double the number of girls here. |
0:35.0 | They get two mats for their bouts instead of one for girls. |
0:39.0 | So the girls know. |
0:40.0 | Being here counts, and every good punch they land takes it closer to crushing all the |
0:47.1 | barriers that have been imposed on them because of their gender and a win promises |
0:51.9 | them an identity and respect like 17 year old Ronach. |
0:57.0 | She's got sweaty palms as is expected but is very calm on the outside. |
1:02.8 | Rana, what is her? |
1:04.8 | I'm asking her how she's feeling. |
1:06.2 | I'm feeling good. |
1:07.2 | I feel I will get a bird. |
1:09.2 | Are we tense, you know? |
1:11.0 | I'm not tense. |
1:12.0 | Right now, I just want to focus on getting good. Go for it. In 2016 |
1:18.7 | when Sakshi Malik became the first Indian woman wrestler to win an Olympic medal, she was celebrated here as a national hero. |
1:27.0 | And it opened a new world of possibilities for girls. |
1:31.0 | But last year, she dramatically quit the sport. It broke many hearts, including |
1:38.3 | Ronucks, and brought competitive wrestling to a halt. Wrestling is more than a sport for girls it can be the window to a better life |
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