Wrestler Sarita Mor beats idol Geeta Phogat, wins senior nationals gold

CHENNAI: When Geeta Phogat created history by becoming the first Indian woman wrestler to clinch a gold medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, the then 15-year-old Sarita Mor was in the junior national camp.

Geeta’s famous victory turned her into a role model for every budding woman wrestler and Sarita was one of them. Such was Sarita’s obsession with her idol that she used to keep Geeta’s pictures in her diary.

As she graduated to senior level, the duo faced each other on the wrestling mat, at least, on a couple of occasions with Geeta emerging triumphant every time. Incidentally, they last met in the 2017 nationals semifinal wherein Geeta posted a come-from-behind victory. Four years later, Geeta’s all-win record over Sarita was broken in Nandini Nagar, Gonda (Uttar Pradesh) as the younger grappler recorded a comprehensive 8-0 victory in the 59kg final of the senior nationals on Friday.

“I am a big fan of Geeta didi. When I attended the senior camp for the first time, her presence was enough to make me excited. But we are rivals on the mat. This is my first win over her and I am happy our strategy worked,” an elated Sarita, who represented Railways in the tournament, told this daily.

Sarita dominated all her bouts en route final winning two by fall and one by technical superiority. The weight category was one of the toughest in the women’s competition as it featured three world medallists — Geeta, Sarita and Pooja Dhanda, who eventually finished with bronze.