Third national gold in a row, Chandigarh wrestler eyes international medal

Deepankar Sharda

Panchkula, June 6

The year has been good, so far, for Chandigarh grappler Yashveer Malik. If a gold medal each in U-15 National Wrestling Championship and Sub-Junior National Championship was not enough, he won another gold in the ongoing Khelo India Youth Games (KIYG) today.

However, the most important moment for him came last month with his selection in the Indian wrestling squad. He has been selected to represent the nation in the upcoming Asian Cadet Wrestling Championship, scheduled to be held at Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan) from June 19 to 26.

On Monday, Malik, who trains under coach Darshan Lal at the Mani Majra Sports Complex in Chandigarh, brought laurels to the city by winning the gold medal in the KIYG. Usually, Malik plays in the 60-kg weight category. However, he bagged today’s gold medal in the 65-kg category.

“I didn’t want to lose good fat ahead of the Asian Cadet Championship. So, I upgraded to 65-kg weight in the ongoing KIYG without changing my routine practice. In Bishkek, I will be playing in the usual 60-kg event. That tournament is really important to me,” said Malik. The 16-year-old grappler actually hails from Haryana. However, since childhood he is staying in Chandigarh.

In today’s final bout, Malik displayed strong defensive skills and defeated Nishant (6-2) in the Greco Roman 65kg final. “He is a sincere wrestler and active on the mat. I am in strong belief he will surely win a medal for India in the upcoming cadet championship and this will be a new turning point in his life,” said coach Lal.

Gatka team excels

Chandigarh’s Gurnoor Kaur, Ravleen Kaur and Arshdeep Kaur claimed a team gold medal in gatka. In the individual categories, Ravleen Kaur won gold and Arshdeep Kaur claimed silver. The men’s team of Gurcharan Singh, Jeevanjot Singh and Tej Pratap Singh also won a team gold medal. Tej also won an individual bronze.