Stopover at Sonepat

Vinayak Padmadeo

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 18

The chief coach of the Indian Greco-Roman contingent, Hargobind Singh, has been part of the coaching staff for 25 years. He came into the national fold in 1995 and despite best efforts by him and the wrestlers, India had failed to add to Pappu Yadav’s historic gold, which he had won in the 48kg category at the 1993 Asian Championships.

Sunil Kumar today ended Hargobind’s wait for another gold medal in Greco-Roman at the continental championship when he beat Kyrgyzstan’s Azat Salidinov 5-0 in the final of the 87kg category.

The 21-year-old Sunil, who hails from Dabarpur in Sonepat in Haryana, was determined to win the gold medal after he had to be content with a silver medal in the last edition of the tournament, held in Xi’an, China.

Biggest win

Sunil’s elder brother Sumit was in attendance as history was made today. “My late father, Ashwini Kumar, wanted him to become a famous name and that’s why he was sent to Guru Mehar Singh Akhada in Rohtak,” Sumit told the media minutes after his brother’s biggest win of his short and prospering career.

“There is no akhada near our village but it was our father’s wish that he should become a wrestler… And today he won! He would be so happy today. Now we are hoping he qualifies for Olympics and make the village and all of us proud,” he added.

Nicknamed Dabarpuriya after his native village, Sunil was in total control of the final bout the moment he bagged a point when the Kyrgyz wrestler was cautioned for passivity violation. He collected a further two points after rolling his opponent from the following ‘par terre’ position. He led 3-0 after the end of the first period.

The Kyrgyz wrestler did everything in his might to make a comeback but Sunil held on to win 5-0.

“I felt good that I could better my performance from the last year. I have worked very hard on my defence and it helped me a lot especially in the final,” Sunil said later.

Earlier, Sunil overcame a 2-8 deficit in the semifinals to beat Kazakhstan’s Azmat Kulibayev 12-8 to earn his spot in the final.

Army power

Arjun Halakurki was the only other Indian to win a podium place after he won the bronze medal playoff, defeating South Korea’s Dong Hyeok Won 7-4.

Arjun started brightly and was awarded a point after the Korean was cautioned for passivity. But Dong registered a four-point throw to lead the bout. But Halakurki, an Army Sports Institute (ASI) recruit, quickly regained the upper hand to win 7-4. The 21-year-old, who belongs to Bagalkot in Karnataka, was not happy with the reward as he was still smarting from his semifinal loss. Arjun was leading 7-1 against the eventual gold medal winner Iran’s Pouya Mohammad Naserpour but in his attempt to win the bout on technical superiority, he allowed Iranian to make a comeback. A four-point throw by Naserpour followed by two push-outs resulted in a 7-8 loss for the Indian.

“I am not happy. I could have been fighting for the gold medal. A silver or gold here would get me promoted to Naib Subedar. Now I have to wait,” he said. “I wanted to finish the bout early but he countered me and bagged four points. And rather than concentrating on defence I lost focus and lost. But I will try to rectify this mistake,” he added.

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DAD’S DREAM

Sunil Kumar’s father wanted the young lad to become a decorated wrestler, and Sunil would have missed him the most today. His father, who was in the dairy supply business, passed away in 2010. But he had the backing of his mother, Anita, and his brothers. Sunil trained at the Rai Sports School near Sonepat before joining the Mehar Singh Dhaka Academy in Rohtak. He won bronze medals at the Asian Junior Championship from 2016 to 2018. In 2018, he became the senior national champion in the 85kg class. Last month, Sunil won a silver in the Rome ranking series event.

Strange walkover

Asian wrestling council president Daulet Turlykhanov asked the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) to collect the sample of Iran’s Behrooz Hedayat. Hedayat mysteriously gave a walkover in the semifinal to Kyrgyzstan’s Azat Salidinov in the 87kg category despite leading 7-0, due to an apparent knee injury. When Hedayat failed to turn up for his bronze medal play-off, Turlykhanov asked NADA to collect his sample. It is understood NADA sought his opinion in writing for the same before proceeding with the procedure.