Commonwealth Games: NZ's first female grappler steps out

Try thinking of an expression to describe wrestling and physical chess might not be the first to trip off the tongue.

It does if you are Sian Law, who will become New Zealand's first female grappler to contest a Commonwealth Games when she steps on to the mat at the Indira Ghandi Indoor Stadium on Wednesday.

In her mind that sums it up just right. Okay, it may have been her coach, former Olympic and Commonwealth representative Graham Hawkins, who coined the term, but Law is a happy advocate.

"You want to do a move and there's always two or three counter moves, so you are constantly thinking, 'okay my arm goes here, I can do this, then they can do that'. It's lots of fun," the 29-year-old explained.

Law competes in the under 51kg division, and while she is suitably petite for that class, she's no novice.

She got the bug for the sport through a younger brother, who was a handy rugby player. Her father, Tony, reckoned it a good base for rugby.

"I started following along, and that was it."

That was when she was about 11 and while there have been the odd breaks from the sport down the years, it remains Law's first sporting passion.

It sounds odd in 2010, but there remains an element of discomfort in some quarters about women competing in sports such as wrestling, boxing or weightlifting.

The thinking is that they're not exactly, ahem, suitable sporting pursuits for women. You can hear the same spoken of rugby or league. Law has heard the naysayers too.

"Wrestling was like that when I first started. Sometimes it was frowned upon but it's definitely changed over the years, and definitely for the better," she said.

"In today's day and age women can, and will, do anything they like. Now some women give the men a run for their money."

The qualification process for New Zealand's six wrestlers began last year and involved plenty of international competition and travel.

The past year has flown by for Law - who works in IT and accounting for the New Zealand Police at Porirua near her home in Titahi Bay - and her teammates.

But this is a special week for Law because of the door opened by Games bosses. These are the first Games to include freestyle wrestling for women.

It is a hugely popular sport in India. Law expects Indian and Canadian opponents to be the toughest.

How she'll fare depends to a large degree on the draw.

There is an end game in mind for Law too. The London Olympics beckon. Do well in New Delhi and it would be a decent step in the right direction for realising that ambition.

She knows that will mean basing herself overseas in the next year.

"New Zealand is so small at wrestling. You really have to be in Europe. That's where the leading females are, so you've got to be there competing."

But there's this week's hurdle to get over first.