Not many would know but Mumbai does have a wrestling culture and for now is shining in the glitter of Narsingh Yadav’s gold.
At the strike of 4:30 pm everyday, around 24 wrestlers gather in the hall and start warming up for the day’s practice. Some eyes are sparkling with the idea of training while some look weary after going through a similar gruelling two-hour stint early at 6:30am.
Nevertheless, all of them, including a 2010 Commonwealth Games gold medallist, touch the mat to pay their respects as a matter of daily ritual and are now waiting for their ‘Sir’.
As soon as all of them run in the dingy changing rooms, it means ‘Sir’ is arriving. And then enters Jagmal Singh, head coach of wrestling at the Sports Authority of India’s (SAI) Kandivli centre, the man who gave Mumbai its only 2010 Commonwealth Games gold medallist.
Yes, Jagmal is also the coach of Narsingh Yadav, who won the 74kg freestyle event in the Delhi Games recently.
Observing that the youngsters are not completely ready to start with the day’s practice he calls upon his senior wards to set an example.
“By now everyone should have been ready, Narsingh, Sandeep, Santosh, you all should set the right example and be ready before everyone else,” quips Jagmal.
On a hilly corner in the SAI premises lies the heart of Mumbai’s budding wrestling talent. The potential medallists from the city in this power-sport are nurtured or one can say even brought up here and people hardly know about it.
“Most of us stay here in the hostel,” says Sandeep Yadav, a 66kg Greco Roman wrestler, who narrowly missed out on a berth in the CWG squad. The 21-year-old is a Jogeshwari resident but prefers to be camped in the SAI hostel to keep his focus intact.
The hotbed of Mumbai wrestling was an unknown property till it shone with Narsingh’s gold. “His (Narsingh) gold will be the catalyst in the improvement of wrestling scenario in city,” explains Jagmal, who has been the coach at this centre since 1997.
Jagmal feels that the city always had the talent; just that people didn’t bother to know. “We have Santosh, who won a silver in 2009 junior Asia championship, Sandeep and Bajrangi are constantly knocking the doors of national berth, and Narsingh has surprised one and all,” he explained.
For the record, it is not only men, who practice wrestling here. Kaushalya Wagh, 2007 junior Asia champion in 48kg women’s freestyle category also sweats it out here. Kaushalya was out of action for a year after that due to a ligament tear in left knee.
Coming from a family full of wrestlers, Kaushalya is only carrying forward the tradition. “My father, grandfather, uncle, brother everyone have been wrestlers and my father only encouraged me to take this up, so here I am,” said the 19-year-old Rizvi
college student.
Coach Jagmal picks her as a prospective Olympic medallist.
But the star of the show of course is Narsingh. And after his gold, nobody is willing to even train with him. But there isn’t any air of being a gold medallist around him. Like every other wrestler at the centre, Narsingh too follows the ritual and regimen.
“Funnily some of them are now scared to train with me after I have become a gold medallist,” Narsingh explains. But Narsingh doesn’t want to bask in his current glory and is focused on bringing more fame and name to his country by securing a 2012 Games berth and then a gold.
And as the star-struck youngsters stay away from him, Narsingh’s immediate concern, however, is finding somebody to train with for the evening.
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