Wrestler shrugs off harassment by dope control officials ahead of his bout to win gold in 66kg freestyle.
On Sunday, India’s Sushil Kumar displayed why he is the number one wrestler in the world. The Olympic bronze medallist won gold for the country as he defeated Heinrich Barnes of South Africa in the men’s 66kg freestyle category here at Indira Gandhi Sports Complex.
Though Sushil didn’t face any difficulty in defeating his opponent, it was a tough journey for the wrestler.
On Saturday, Sushil was called for a random dope test and according to the wrestler the officials harassed him during the whole procedure.
“I was called for a random test by the World Anti-Doping Agency officials, for which, they asked me to drink lots of water. I told them that I had not eaten anything since last two days, so drinking too much water will be bad for my health. But they didn’t listen to me and pressurised me to drink water and took my urine sample for the test,” said Sushil while talking exclusively to DNA.
The wrestler said that his body didn’t accept so much water and as a result, he had a tummy upset before his bouts. “I fought all my bouts with bad tummy. I wasn’t feeling good but god was with me and I won gold,” he said.
Sushil said that this has happened for the first time in his career that he was asked for a test on the eve of his bout. “I have been in this sport since many years, but this has been the first time that I was asked for a test just before the bouts. It upset me and I was not at the best of my morale,” he added.
Sushil’s coach Satpal called it a conspiracy against the world champion. “I feel this was done deliberately to harass Sushil so that he doesn’t perform well in the important bout,” said Satpal.
But Sushil displayed his class and overpowered his South African opponent 7-0 (2-0 5-0) to win the gold. Earlier, in the semifinal bout, Sushil took just nine seconds to beat Gambia’s Famara Jarjou.
Interestingly, he did not give away a singles point to his opponents in the four matches he played before winning the gold.
Meanwhile, the other three boxers in the freestyle category failed to win gold. In the 55kg weight category, Anil Kumar won bronze after defeating Sri Lanka’s Mudeyanse Yaparathna 7-5. In the 84kg weight category, Anuj Kumar lost to Pakistan’s Mohammad Inam 4-3 after the match went to the wire. Inam got a clinch, which he utilised without making any mistake.
“I don’t know what went wrong. I was prepared well for the championship and had worked hard to win gold. But I was a bit unlucky as he got a clinch against me,” said Anuj.
In the 120kg final, India’s Joginder Kumar also had to be content with silver, as he went down 4-0 to Canadian wrestler of Indian origin Arjun Bhullar.
At the end of the final day of wrestling event at the CWG, the Indian wrestlers summed up the tally with 19 medals, which includes 10 gold, five silver and four bronze.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}