Wrestler Vinesh Phogat’s bid to return to the international arena was halted by one of her own constituents, Meenakshi Goyat, who defeated her in the semifinals of the trials for the Asian Games. Meenakshi hails from Chabri village, which falls under the Julana Assembly segment. Vinesh is the Congress MLA from the same Assembly constituency.However, all six wrestlers selected in different weight categories of women’s wrestling for the Asian Games are from Haryana.Struggling on various fronts and entering the trials following court directions to the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), Vinesh kicked off her campaign in style by winning two bouts to reach the semifinal stage. However, she wrestled against Meenakshi in the semifinal and lost 4-6. Meenakshi, too, lost to Antim Panghal in the final. Antim Panghal is a resident of Bhagana village in Hisar district.Meenakshi, a resident of Chabri village, is presently living in Sonipat, though her parental home and agricultural land are in the village. Former village sarpanch Krishan Goyat said they were proud of their daughter for defeating their own MLA in the wrestling arena.“She is an emerging player who belongs to an ordinary farming family. Her father, Prem Singh, is a farmer who frequently visits the village. They are also registered as voters in the village, which is part of the Julana Assembly segment,” Krishan told The Tribune.He said the villagers had recently honoured Meenakshi after she won a silver medal at the Senior Asian Wrestling Championship held in Kyrgyzstan last month.However, Meenakshi later lost to Antim in the final, and Antim has now been selected to represent India at the Asian Games.Antim’s father, Ram Niwas, said she was well prepared to face any opponent in the trials.“We were expecting a bout with Vinesh. But she lost in the semifinals,” he said, adding that Antim has been in good form and expressing hope that she would improve her performance at the Asian Games, having won a bronze medal in Hangzhou.Apart from Antim (53 kg), the other selected wrestlers are Dipanshee (50 kg), Manisha Bhanwala (57 kg), Mansi Ahlawat (62 kg), Nisha Dahiya (68 kg) and Priya Malik (76 kg).Tejpal Dalal, a wrestling historian, said it was a good showing by Vinesh, but she needed to improve further. He noted that she had also admitted this after her loss to Meenakshi.“I hope she comes back stronger,” he said.Dalal added that women’s wrestling continues to be dominated by Haryana wrestlers, as all six selected wrestlers are from the state. He further pointed out that most of the participants in the trials also hailed from Haryana.