Putting setbacks behind, wrestler Nisha Dahiya is ready for Asian Games glory

For years, Nisha Dahia would have this lingering thought after every injury: Why me?

Why did the body give up just when everything seemed to be falling into place?

Why did another promising campaign end in disappointment? She no longer asks those questions.

Nisha has learnt to take setbacks in her stride, stopped cribbing about the injuries that have repeatedly interrupted her career, and, most importantly, accepted that an athlete can control the work but not always the outcome.

That change in mindset could prove as important as any technical improvement when Nisha steps on the mat at the Asian Games in the women's 68kg category, carrying the hopes of finally converting her considerable potential into a major medal.

"I used to feel that God was being unfair to me. I used to think, why is this happening to me again and again? But now I don't think like that," Nisha told PTI in an interview.

"I will get what is written in my fate. I will do my job, work hard and wrestle well. I will do my best."

It is a remarkably mature outlook for a wrestler who has had more than her share of cruel interruptions.

Nisha's career has often been a case of promise without the results to match. She lost the bronze-medal bout at the 2022 World Championships after taking a 4-0 lead against Linda Morais before an injury relapse forced her out of the contest, keeping her away from competition for several months.

Then came Paris.

At the 2024 Olympics, Nisha looked destined for a place in the medal rounds. She was leading North Korea's Pak Sol Gum 8-1 in the quarterfinal, in control of a contest that appeared to be going her way.

Then came another cruel twist: a dislocated finger and a shoulder injury that severely restricted her movement. She fought through the pain but eventually lost 8-10, missing the medal round.

"At the end of the day, the result is not in our hands. Everyone goes there to win. Sometimes the match goes well, sometimes we take pressure," she said.

"In Paris, I was wrestling very well. But then I got injured. What can an athlete do? Injury is not in anyone's control."

For a wrestler who has repeatedly found herself on the wrong side of such fine margins, it would have been easy to become consumed by frustration.

Nisha admits she did.

"When you train very well, everything goes in line, and everything is going very well. Then an injury disturbs everything, and you are not able to train properly for the next six months. Our mindset breaks down a lot," she said.

"I used to think, 'Why are you (God) doing this to me? Why are you giving me injuries again and again?' I used to crib a lot."

But she has learnt that dwelling on those moments can become another injury: to the mind.

"If you hold on to that thing, you won't be able to move forward. You have to play further. I have to reach Los Angeles, I have to win a medal. If I have to go this far, then you can't hold on to small things," she said.

"To move forward, you have to leave behind small things."

That maturity has come alongside a steady evolution in her wrestling.

Nisha believes her biggest strength remains her attacking game and the confidence she has in her ability to initiate moves.

But working with the Japanese coach Kosei Akaishi, the two-time Olympic medallist hired by WFI, has also added another dimension to her repertoire.

"Their wrestling is a bit different from Indian wrestling. They have quick actions and techniques. They have speed and clean techniques for which we struggle," she said.

The biggest change has come in her approach to ground wrestling.

"In India, if we train for six days a week, perhaps we work on the ground for one day. Their ground wrestling is very strong. Even when we take a wrestler down, sometimes we get stuck and don't score further," she explained.

"Their way of thinking is different. They work a lot on ground wrestling. They have some techniques that are new for us, and that has helped us a lot."

The Japanese influence, Nisha feels, has made her a more complete wrestler.

"Of course, they are making me a better wrestler," she said.

The Asian Games now offer another chance to bridge the gap between what Nisha appears capable of and what her medal cabinet currently suggests.

She is not short of experience. Nor is she short of belief.

The 68kg category, she points out, is no longer a weak area for India. Divya Kakran won an Asian Games bronze in the category, while Kiran won a bronze in 76kg.

Indian wrestlers in the heavier women's categories have also shown increasing competitiveness on the international stage.

The Asian Games field itself will be formidable, with several wrestlers having competed at the Paris Olympics.

"I have been with everyone. I have won against some and lost against some. It is a tough competition," Nisha said.

That is perhaps precisely what she needs.

For a wrestler whose career has repeatedly been interrupted just when a breakthrough appeared within reach, another major tournament brings both danger and opportunity.

But this time, Nisha does not want to carry the weight of what happened before. She wants to carry only the lessons.

"I have learnt a lot of things. Even when I was playing in Paris, I learnt a lot," she said. "And now I feel I have to do it this time."

The words sound less like a promise and more like a wrestler finally at peace with the unpredictability of her journey.

After years of asking why me? Nisha has arrived at a simpler question: what next? The Asian Games could provide the answer.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Bridge Desk. It is published from a syndicated feed.)