Paralysed three years ago, Sonam Malik aims for Olympic glory

Wrestler, 19, will be competing in 62kg category in Tokyo


NEW DELHI: Late in 2017, it seemed that she would never be able to take to the mat again. A nerve-related twinge on her right shoulder, that also affected the right arm, left young grappler Sonam Malik paralysed on her right side. Her world came crashing down. After all, she was fresh from winning gold at the

World Cadet Championships

in Athens, Greece.


Cut to present... Sonam, 19, has booked her berth for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics in the 62kg category and is gunning for glory at the showpiece event.

After suffering from the paralysis, Sonam was out of action for six months. "She couldn't hold her arm up. She wasn't able to grip anything with any strength. The diagnosis was that the nerves in her shoulder were simply not transmitting any impulses down to her arm. The doctor told her to forget about wrestling and think how she would live from there onwards," Ajmer Malik, Sonam's coach, told TOI.

Sonam, who hails from Madina village in Haryana's Sonipat district, has been honing her skills under Ajmer at the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Sports Complex in Madina since 2014. "The doctor said if it was in Sonam's destiny, then she would recover," he added. Destiny ruled in Sonam's favour and she recovered.


Her father,

Rajender Malik

, who himself was a wrestler during his younger days and currently works as delivery man at a sugar mill in Madina, played a big role in her recovery. "Due to my limited earnings, I couldn't afford to get her treated by any renowned doctor in a big city. We used desi (ayurvedic) methods to heal her. I think God wanted Sonam to be on the mat again, that's why she recovered in just six months," recalled Rajender. Her treatment, however, continued for a year.

In 2018, Sonam was back on the mat and won bronze medals at the Asian Cadet Championship and World Cadet Championship. In 2019, she won another World Cadet gold.

She graduated to the senior level, thereafter. Soon she started making waves and hit the headlines in early 2020 after defeating Rio Olympics bronze medallist Sakshi Malik at a national trial in Lucknow. From there onwards, Sonam has got the better of Sakshi three more times.

Earlier this year in April, Sonam became the youngest Indian woman wrestler to qualify for the Olympics by reaching the 62kg final at the Asian Olympic Qualifiers in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

"She (Sonam) is very quick on the mat. She is very flexible and the most important quality she possesses is that she can lift opposition on her shoulder with effortless ease and throw her down on the mat," Ajmer tells when asked what makes Sonam stand out. "The good thing about Sonam is that she seldom takes any kind of pressure," Kuldeep Malik, the chief national women's coach, feels.

At the Olympics, Sonam will be taking to the mat on August 4. "I know there is a lot of competition in my category. I know I am not one of the favourites to win, but on my day I can defeat the best. If any one takes me lightly, it'll be at their own peril," Sonam says with confidence.

"I have studied the video footage of my competition and have made my plans accordingly."

In Sonam's category, the favourite to win gold is Aisuluu Tynybekova of Kazakhstan. Other contenders are:

Yusein Taybe Mustafa

of Bulgaria,

Yuliia Ostapchuk

of Ukraine, Yukako Kawai of Japan and

Kayla Kiyoko

of the United States.