Nisha Dahiya had looked good to qualify for the women’s wrestling 68kg division semis at her maiden Olympic Games on Monday. She bagged a come-from-behind win in her pre-quarterfinal over Ukraine’s Sova Rizhko 6-4, after being down 1-4 at half time and looked dangerous against North Korean Sol Gum Pak in the quarter finals.
At this point, with Nisha leading by 8-1, she just needed to defend her points. But then all of a sudden, Nisha injured her right hand pinky finger and screamed out in pain, calling for medical attention. She was attended to by medics who bandaged her finger as the Haryana native from Adiyana village kept up the fight. In the meantime, Gum Pak managed to narrow it down to 2-8.
Just when there were only thirty-three seconds left on the clock, Nisha got another serious injury in right arm as a result of their intense struggle between each other. The pain was evident on Nisha’s face and she called for medical help again when they applied some anesthetic spray on her wounded arm. Meanwhile though, the judges warned both about GumPak’s dangerous play.
In spite of realizing that she had hurt herself badly; Nisha decided to remain grappling but this affected her ability fight due to lost momentum because of injury incurred through fighting with Puk. With every ounce of energy running out, she took advantage of this situation and performed multiple roll-throughs which tied the score at 8-8 with exactly twelve seconds remaining.
While writhing in agony and shedding bitter tears; Nisha opted for yet another break from wrestling; she could not bear it anymore. Again doctors discouraged her from continuing with the fight but still she stayed put without leaving until the end. Nevertheless, GumPak seized this opportunity because he scored a vital takedown which sealed the match at 10-8.
This was because Nisha slumped to the ground heartbroken, whimpering from pain, crying because of losing an opportunity to win a medal in Olympics. She can still compete for a medal if Gum Pak makes it to the final through Tuesday’s repechage round. Moreover, she will have to regain her fitness as soon as possible.
