“I will return to the mat again,” Vinesh Phogat said, minutes after she lost her semifinal bout to Meenakshi and, with it, the chance to get selected for the Asian Games.The fighter in her refuses to bow down as the hunger within to return to the mat burns the brightest. Before Saturday, Vinesh had to fight against the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI); today, she had to fight from scratch. From almost being denied a chance to fight — the WFI had plans to make her fight in the 50kg category — to eventually getting her day in her preferred 53kg, it was a day of pure raw emotions for the eminent Olympian and young mother of a 10-month-old boy.On the mat, Vinesh, who was coming back to competitive wrestling after a gap of over nearly 16 months, easily outclassed her first opponent of the day, Jyoti, 7-1 in her opening round. In her next, she trailed Nishu 5-0 after the first period. After the break, Vinesh garnered a four-point throw to roar back and used all her experience to edge it 6-5 in her favour.In the semifinal against Meenakshi, Vinesh looked short on endurance. And it showed. Meenakshi, who won a silver medal at the Asian Wrestling Championships, was all over Vinesh from the start. After conceding a point through passivity, Vinesh recovered to make it 1-1, by forcing her younger opponent outside the boundary of the mat. Meenakshi then garnered a double point to go 3-1 up. Even though Vinesh hit back with a two-point takedown, Meenakshi made it comfortable with a quick takedown and pushout to soar ahead at 6-3. With only seconds left, Vinesh’s husband Somvir Rathee challenged a decision from the referee, which was turned down and she lost 6-4.Speaking to reporters after her loss, Vinesh said she was proud of her performance despite the difficulties faced by her to take part in the trials. She added that it was not a fair fight for her from the start.“I think I did as well as I could have. I gave my 100 per cent. Whatever energy I had in me was spent there. I think I have to work harder but I am happy that once my boy grows up and finds out that his mother was on the mat when he was only 10 months old, I am sure he will feel proud of me,” Vinesh said.“I do not have to say whether this was a fair trial. The entire country knows the truth, they have all seen it and not only today, they all are aware about the issues since it (protest) started. So whether I say it out loud or not, it won’t make much of a difference. We had to fight for each single point, the system was against me but I can say proudly, I stood in front of them and will continue to fight,” she said.