Wrestling guru Satpal Singh was a restless man on an otherwise lazy Sunday as he eagerly awaited his protege’s call.
Wrestling guru Satpal Singh was a restless man on an otherwise lazy Sunday as he eagerly awaited his protege’s call. His ward Sushil Kumar etched his name in golden letters in the history of Indian wrestling by becoming the first man from the country to win a gold medal in the World Wrestling Championship in Moscow on Sunday.
In what can be termed as ‘taming the lion in his own den’, Kumar outclassed home-favourite Russian grappler Gogaev Alan 3-1 in the final of the men’s 66kg freestyle wrestling. Mind it, this was Kumar’s fifth bout of the day and he gave it his all to clinch the shining yellow metal. “Immediately after winning his semifinal bout Sushil called me and promised that he won’t let me down, and he lived up to his word,” Satpal Singh, Kumar’s coach for 16 years, told DNA.
Singh’s joy expectedly knew no bounds as the coach said no one deserved the world title more than his ward. “I have been saying for a long time that Sushil is cut for the big stage. Now people will realize that his bronze at Olympics wasn’t a fluke,” Singh said.
In the final bout against the Russian, Sushil drew first blood by clinching two crucial points in the first period. Alan could only manage one. Showing his true form, the Indian grappler kept the pressure on the home-grown Alan to pick one more point in the second period and seal the issue in his favour.
It wasn’t an easy Sunday for Sushil who made it to the final after defeating Hasanov Jabrayil of Azerbaijan 4-3. Kumar clashed with Akriditis of Greece, Germany’s Martin Sebastian and Mongolia’s Buyan Jav before beating Azerbaijan’s Jabrayil in the semifinal to make it to the summit clash.
In the semis, the Azerbaijani grappler took the lead by notching the lone point in the first period. Kumar bounced back to level the score 1-1 in the second period. Knowing that he had no choice but to attack, Kumar came out all guns blazing to clinch three more points to Hasanov’s two to win.
“An Olympic medal (bronze) and the World title has been achieved. Now, an Olympics gold is the ultimate dream,” said Singh.
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