Rio 2016: Smiles, sweets all around as 'Narsingh bhaiya' gets clean chit

Narsingh Pancham Yadav had a smile on his face as he entered the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) office in New Delhi to know about his fate. He walked out of the office in much the same way.

And, along with Yadav, all the wrestlers in the Sports Authority of India (SAI) here in Kandivli flashed a smile on their faces when news of their much-loved 'Narsingh bhaiya's' clean chit broke out on Monday evening. The centre is where Yadav trains when he is not busy with international tournaments or national camps, and every wrestler has attached a deep connection with Yadav.

No wonder, then, that a large number of sweets were ordered from the nearby sweet shop, and every wrestler in the camp allowed himself/herself the luxury of one sweet each.

"Sachi ki jeet hui (The truth has prevailed)," GS Sangha, the wrestling coach at the centre, said.

In a rather unexpected turn of events, Yadav was let off by NADA's disciplinary panel of doping charges after it concluded that the banned substance in his body was an act of sabotage.

"We always knew it. There was no way that Narsingh would have done this intentionally. We were hoping that justice would be done to our pehelwaan. And, as soon as we found out that he was given the clean chit, we ordered sweets and distributed them among all players. It is a big, big relief," Sangha said.

It also was for Yadav. Ever since he tested positive for methandienone – a banned anabolic steroid – a little more than a week ago, the 26-year-old has been crying foul, saying it was a conspiracy theory to block his Rio Olympics journey. On Monday, his theory was seconded.

"Right from the first day, I have had faith that I would be cleared. I have always competed in a fair and honest manner," Yadav said after the verdict.

Indeed, many others believed in his innocence. Yadav got support from many quarters including his state association, which took no time in shooting off letters to Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, prime minister Narendra Modi as well as the sports ministry, seeking justice for the wrestler.

"We just did our job," Maharashtra State Wrestling Association general secretary Balasaheb Landge, who reached the Capital to support Yadav a day before the verdict, said.

"We always knew he was an innocent kid, but we got really strong support from our chief minister, who made sure that justice was delivered. I hope the people who played this dirty trick are given the harshest punishment by the concerned authorities," he added.

That's for later, though. The immediate task for Yadav will be to ensure that he gets his focus back mentally on the upcoming Olympics, if he gets the final go-ahead from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), that is. It'll be easier said than done, for the 2015 World Championship bronze medallist has lost precious days of focusing solely on his training, apart from the unimaginable mental agony this entire saga would've caused him.

"While the last 10 days have been extremely tough for me, my focus is now firmly on being at my best and going all out to bring glory to the nation. All through the hearing process, I have been training and I will be putting in a lot more work in the next couple of weeks to ensure that I am physically and mentally at my peak on the mat in Rio," Yadav said.

Not just him, his junior wrestlers at the SAI centre in Kandivli will also ensure the same.

"During this entire episode, none of the wrestlers here could put in their 100 per cent. Their minds were distracted, even they felt cheated. Ab jam ke training hogi (Now everyone will train at their best)," Sangha said.