Getting a grip
Hit hard by a change in weight categories, omission of Greco Roman, India wrestlers look to take the setbacks in their stride
Sabi Hussain
Tribune News Service

2012 London Olympics bronze medallist 2006 Asian Games bronze medallist 2010 Commonwealth Games gold medallist Yogeshwar Dutt DOB: November 2, 1982 Village: Bainswal Kalan near Sonepat

Sonepat, July 16
The roar in New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi Arena was deafening – India’s Rajender Kumar was taking on Azhar Hussain of Pakistan in the final of the 55kg Greco Roman gold medal. Sport fused with jingoism, in the most primeval of sports, stimulated the massive Indian support base. Rajender, then 24, was confident, dominant, despite a nose injury in the second round. He got the gold. The crowd went crazy.

Commonwealth Games have always been a happy hunting ground for the Indian wrestlers – we’ve won a staggering 84 medals from the quadrennial event since first participating in 1934. In CWG 2010 in New Delhi, India topped the medal charts with 10 gold, 5 silver and 4 bronze.

Indian wrestlers hope to set Glasgow’s SECC Precinct Arena afire, too; however, their medal tally will won’t match the 2010 count because Greco Roman wrestling has been dropped from the event.

The good news first. All 14 wrestlers – seven men, seven women – fielded by India have realistic chances of coming back with a medal. However, there are two men who the fans expect to win nothing less than gold – India’s superstars Yogeshwar Dutt (65kg) and Sushil Kumar (74kg).

Amit Kumar Dahiya (57kg) has risen to the senior level in spectacular fashion – his historic World Cup silver medal last year proved that the 19-year-old is ready to dazzle at the biggest stage. Bajrang (61kg), also participating in his first CWG, is another bright prospect. Pavan Rana (86kg), Satyavrat (97kg) are also the CWG debutants; they’ve graduated to the senior level after some impressive performances at the junior level and the Commonwealth Championships.

Rajeev Tomar (125kg), from Baghpat in Uttar Pradesh, is a veteran, though – he represented India in the 120kg category at the Beijing Olympics too. He was also a part of the squad for Delhi CWG, but a doping offence just before the Games saw him being dropped.

In the women's category, Babita Kumari (55kg) and Geetika Jakhar (63kg) are capable of winning gold. Geetika won the silver in the 63kg category in the Doha Asian Games in 2006, while Babita won a silver medal in the 51 kg category at the 2010 CWG, followed two years later by a bronze in the World Wrestling Championships.

Most of the wrestlers, including Sushil and Yogeshwar, will be competing in a new weight category for the first time in a major international competition. Sushil and Yogeshwar, who were competing in 66kg and 60kg categories earlier, now move to the 74kg and 65kg categories, respectively.

The dropping of the Greco Roman category (in which India won 4 gold, 1 silver and 2 bronze in the Delhi CWG), has hit the Indian grapplers hard. "We are clearly losing seven medals this time. This is unfair on the part of the organisers," said chief coach Vinod Kumar.

"Sushil has struggled every time he had to reduce his weight to compete in the 66kg. It would be difficult for him to change his weight category to 74kg. Same for Yogeshwar, who has to gain 5kg. The decision will not only affect Indian wrestling but other countries as well," added Kumar. There was unsavoury drama in a controversy-marred build-up to the Games when Amit Kumar Dhankar moved Delhi High Court, accusing the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) of short-listing the wrestlers for Glasgow CWG without holding trials. However, the court refused to tinker with the list of selected wrestlers for CWG.

“There have been instances in the past when the WFI selected the team without holding trials. This time too we selected the team based on our wrestlers' past performances,” said Kumar.

Medals, mentoring on masters’ mind
Sabi Hussain
Tribune News Service

Sonepat, July 16
Olympic medallists Sushil Kumar and Yogeshwar Dutt have been the poster boys of Indian wrestling since the 2008 Beijing Games, when the former won a bronze medal. They carry the burden of a billion hopes on their sturdy shoulders whenever they step on the mat in international competitions. This time too, the burden of expectation once again will be on them to deliver.

A bronze in the Beijing Olympics might have come as a surprise but Sushil's historic silver in London proved that it was not a fluke. Taking a cue from his long-time friend's achievement, Yogeshwar forgot about his painful exit from the Beijing Games and went on to grab a bronze in London Olympics.

Since then, a prolonged injury lay-off put them out of the arena for the better part of 2013, including the World Cup and Asian Championships. They’ll be competing in new weight categories, and both warmed up for Glasgow by winning medals at the two-day international tournament in Italy. Yogeshwar clinched his first gold in his new weight category, while Sushil won a silver.

"We are confident of getting five-six gold medals from the Games. We know people expect me and Sushil to deliver, but there are other young wrestlers in the team who can also win gold medals, too," said Yogeshwar.

"Me and Sushil returned to the ring after almost two years and won medals in Italy. I defeated the 2011 world champion in the semifinal. This shows that we are ready," added Yogeshwar.

This time, Sushil wants to win all seven medals on offer. "It's disappointing that Greco-Roman category is not there. So I want the freestyle wrestlers to step up and compensate for the loss," said Sushil. For Sushil and Yogeshwar, apart from getting home the gold from the CWG, there would be an additional responsibility of guiding a relatively young side to the podium finish.

"We know, as seniors, we have a dual role to perform. For Amit, Bajrang, Satyavrat and Pavan Kumar, this is their first CWG. They are feeling the pressure but our job is to keep them calm. We have to act as their mentors too,” said Sushil.

The young and the fearless
Sabi Hussain
Tribune News Service

Sonepat, July 16
They are young, they are fearless and, above all, they are the understudies of their ustads, Sushil Kumar and Yogeshwar Dutt, who have passed on their technical and tactical knowledge to them.

Meet the world Cup silver medallist Amit Kumar, World Cup bronze medallist Bajrang, 9th Roustam-E-International title holder Satyavrat and Commonwealth Championships gold medallist Pawan Kumar, all first-timers at the CWG.

These young wrestlers want to carry on the torch from their "idols". Sweat and blood shed during training has made them determined to put up an impressive show in Glasgow.

"This is my first CWG and I am only looking at bringing the gold medal in my 61kg event," said Bajrang, who has been mentored by Yogeshwar.

Bajrang, who comes from a low-income background, couldn't thank his "guru" Yogeshwar enough for taking care of his training needs and mentoring him to podium finish in the World Cup.

"Yogeshwar bhai has played a big role in grooming me. Whatever I am today is because of him. It was always my dream to compete alongside him and now I have got the opportunity to be part of the team which has Sushil and Yogeshwar bhai," added Bajrang.

Ditto for Amit Kumar. Sushil has been a guiding light for Amit since 2012, when the diminutive grappler became the Asian Junior gold medallist.

Amit's attacking ways and tactical acumen led to his promotion to the senior team. The Nahri resident instantly made an impact and became the youngest Indian wrestler in the team at the London Olympics. His moment of glory came in 2013 when he brought home the historic silver from the World Cup in Budapest. "The presence of Sushil and Yogeshwar bhai in the team will inspire us to give our 100 per cent. They have played a big role in guiding us," said Amit.

Satyavrat, who made his debut with the senior team last year, said he always dreamt of representing the country at the CWG. "I am the youngest member in this group and it feels great to be part of the team. This is a dream come true for me,” he said.

FROM THE GROUND

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MATTER OF FACT

Women’s boxing and the mixed team relay event in triathlon will make their Commonwealth Games debuts at Glasgow 2014.

 

 

The Glasgow Games will have the largest ever number of fully integrated para-sport events, with 22 medals up for grabs in five sports.

 

 

Main rival

Canada
Canada has been the dominant nation in the wrestling history of the Commonwealth Games.

The Indian wrestling team is confident of bagging at least 10-12 medals at the Glasgow Games but Canada, in particular, England and Nigeria will give them a run for their money.

Chief coach Vinod Kumar said these nations would pose India serious questions.

Row shadows second Test
The Jadeja-Anderson spat has added spice to the Test but Dhoni wants to get on with it
Gaurav Joshi

London, July 16
MS Dhoni is a cool guy, not an excitable celebrator. He prefers to stay away from the spotlight but there are rare occasions when he feels the need to express his opinion. As the James Anderson-Ravindra Jadeja controversy became the focus of discussion before the second Test here at Lords, Dhoni decided to voice his opinions.

As the captain received a constant barrage of questions on the altercation between Anderson and Jadeja, his tone and message summed up the gravity of the incident.

It still remains unclear where the episode took place. Anderson and Jadeja were seen mouthing off to each other as they left the field of play at lunch on Day 2 of the first Test at Nottingham. It is believed the staircase that leads up to the dressing room is narrow and this is where the tension seems to have boiled over. The Indians then reported that Anderson had pushed Jadeja.

Dhoni, the batsman to accompany Jadeja at that time, was in front as the pair left the field. But with the English team walking off at the same time, it remains a mystery how the incident could have been missed by the other players.

A view is that the altercation took place at the end of the second day’s play.

It was while the players left the dressing room, Anderson still fuming from an argument earlier in the day, that he allegedly shoved Jadeja, and only two Indian players, Gautam Gambhir and Ravichandran Ashwin were witness to the incident.

Dhoni was clearly agitated at the constant criticism hurled at his team and believed it was the right time to speak about an incident that should not have ever occurred. “Frankly, we have been on the receiving end a lot of times where somebody starts something and we retaliate and we get fined or different kinds of offences are levelled against us,” he said. “It was good on Jadeja’s part to not really do something. At the end of the day we play sport and lot of people look up to us, and there is a lot of responsibility on us.”

England captain Alastair Cook stated during an interview with BBC that he knew nothing of the incident until Monday. The English captain also stated the Indian team was blowing up the incident and even accused the Indians of trying to unsettle the bowler.

Dhoni was is no mood for such accusations and once again displayed the severity of the incident by saying: “You will ask me tough questions and it’s my right whether to answer them or not. But in no way can I touch you.” The Jadeja and Anderson spat has certainly added spice to the Test match but as MS Dhoni stated couple of times, “Let’s get ahead with the Test, please.”

Jadeja charged

A lively wicket expected

London, July 16
India and England gear up for the second Test at Lord’s where a lively wicket is expected to welcome the two teams here tomorrow. Two days ahead of the match, the centre-wicket at Lord’s bore a distinctive green tinge.

Gallopin claims 11th stage

british open
Lahiri ready for the Open challenge

Hoylake (England), July 16
Buoyed by the experience of playing his final practice round with two-time Major champion, Germany's Martin Kaymer, Anirban Lahiri is all ready to fight it out at the British Open Championship, starting at the Royal Liverpool here tomorrow.

"It was a great round of golf. He's a nice guy and very down to earth. We spoke a little bit about football and a bit of this and that," said Lahiri.

One of the only seven Indians to played the Open, Lahiri will become the first to make the cut more than once if he is still in the fray on the weekend. Lahiri, who will tee off with Koumei Oda and Ben Martin, limited his practice after his round with Kaymer due to a slight fever. "I was a little jetlagged. I've got a low grade fever. It also happened to me the last time I was here (the 2012 Open) when I got a fever on Monday. I wouldn't mind a similar finish." Lahiri had made a stunning hole-in-one two years ago. — PTI

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