Just days before Nisha Dahiya was supposed to get on the mat to compete in the 65kg category of the National Wrestling Championships in Gonda, news emerged that the wrestler and her brother had been shot dead. The shocking news turned out to be fake as another local wrestler with similar name had been shot in Sonepat but Nisha was in fact totally safe in Gonda.
Nisha put all of that behind her to win the 65kg gold with a comprehensive win on Thursday (November 11). The title clash ended in just 30 seconds with Nisha, the U23 world championship bronze medallist, pinning her rival Jaspreet Kaur from Punjab.
Except for her semifinal against Haryana’s Priyanka, it turned out to be an easy day in the office for the 23-year-old Nisha, who represents Railways.
“When the fake news came, I got scared. My family members got really scared and they were all crying. There was some misunderstanding there. Now all of the misunderstanding has got cleared. But since there were alert people were around me, we could stop the fake news. Within 15 minutes, I put out a video and Sakshi di (Malik) did the same,” Nisha Dahiya told Zee News channel in an exclusive interview on Friday (November 12).
“Sakshi di was with me, we were in the same room. She told me to switch off the phone. Then I spoke to my family member and they also told me to focus on the competition. We can’t leave the competition due to stress,” Nisha said.
Nisha’s agility and attacking moves were too hot to handle for her opponents. She stood out with her leg attacks.
“My coaches are there with me and Sakshi di is with me. I had just returned from Serbia. I couldn’t leave competition for this. When I got on the mat, I couldn’t think of anything else. I spoke to my parents after the final bout,” Nisha revealed.
The two finalists in each weight category will represent India at the Commonwealth Championship, scheduled to be held in Pretoria, South Africa from December 3-5. While the gold medal winner will travel at the government's expense, the runner-up will have to go on his own.
“December 2 we leave for Commonwealth Championships and training for that. I wanted to let everyone know that I am well and people should let me focus on future tournaments,” Nisha added.
