'Luckiest to be born in this village': Vinesh receives grand welcome back home in Balali, celebrations go on past midnight

Vinesh Phogat received a hero’s welcome after landing at New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport on Saturday morning. So moved was the grappler by the rousing reception that was given to her by her family members, fellow wrestlers Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik as well as a large mob of fans that she cried tears of joy and said it was better than a “thousand gold medals”.

Watch | Vinesh Phogat cannot hold back tears after arriving in New Delhi following Paris heartbreak

Vinesh, after all, had put up a performance for the ages in the Paris Olympics, becoming the first Indian female wrestler to qualify for an Olympic final. And she could have returned home with India’s first ever Olympic gold medal in wrestling had she not been disqualified the following day for being slightly overweight.

With a feat as remarkable as the one she had pulled off in the French capital earlier this month, it was only natural for the celebrations to continue in Balali in Haryana’s Charkhi Dadri district, the village that is home to the famous Phogat wrestling family that had also been featured in Aamir Khan’s 2016 superhit Dangal.

Following her reception at the airport, Vinesh was greeted by a crowd of 1,000 villagers after arriving in Balali together with Bajrang as well as brother Harvinder and mother Premlata, who had been up since early morning to welcome her daughter back home. Not only did she receive several garlands, some of which were made with banknotes, and took multiple selfies with fans upon her arrival, she attended as many as 20 felicitation ceremonies with the celebrations lasting until 1 am on Sunday morning.

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#WATCH | Haryana: Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat recieved a grand welcome on her arrival in Jhajjar. pic.twitter.com/NqblfGdshv

So exhausted was Vinesh after a long day that she fainted during one of the felicitation ceremonies later in the day, and had to be administered ORS. That, however, did not deter Vinesh from expressing her gratitude for all the love that she had received from family, friends, the wrestling community as well as her village of Balali since her heroics in Paris.

“I still don’t know whether I deserve all the accolades or not. But I feel myself to be the luckiest to be born in this village. I want to clear this debt of my village and I assure that I would always fight for the honour of the women and of this village. I want it from the bottom of my heart that somebody from the village carries my legacy and even breaks my records.

“I would be always indebted for the soil of my country as well Balali. And if I can promote the women wrestlers of my village as the country in whatever way I could, it would be my biggest achievement,” Vinesh said after her arrival in Balali, according to The Indian Express.

Vinesh had announced her retirement shortly after getting disqualified from the women’s 50kg event in the Paris Olympics. She would later file an appeal before an ad-hoc panel of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Paris, hoping to get a joint-silver medal at the very least. The Lausanne-based body, however, dismissed her appeal on Tuesday earlier this week and upheld the United World Wrestling’s final decision.

Read | Vinesh Phogat opens up on retirement, hints at possible comeback

Addressing Balali residents on Saturday, Vinesh hinted at the possibility of reversing her retirement, stating she still had some “unfinished” business in wrestling.

“Maybe, I could return to wrestling. I don’t know if I would pursue wrestling or not but the kind of courage I got today, I want to use that in the right direction. Our fight has not ended and the fight will continue and I pray to god that the truth will prevail,” Vinesh added.