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| Indian Contingent for London Olympics - Wrestling |
The Bronze glory at Beijing, Bronze medallist Sushil Kumar and his long-time friend and fellow grappler Yogeshwar Dutt are ready for London Games. They carry Indian expectations in wrestling. They have enough experience to make the London Olympics a memorable event. A bronze in the Beijing Games four years ago came as a surprise but now Sushil is ready for the gold at the London Olympic Games and bring some glory to wrestling arena in India.
Traditionally Indian wrestling isn't just a sport - it's an ancient subculture where wrestlers live and train together and it dates as back as Middle Ages, traces of which have been found in the Mahabharata and Ramayana. Wrestlers used to belong to gyms called akharas, where wrestlers live under strict rules. Wrestlers' diets consist of milk, almonds, ghee, eggs and chapattis. The sport is on the decline, but there are still many akharas left and some dedicated people who are working to keep this ancient part of Indian culture alive.
As the nation prepares to head to London for the 30th edition of the Olympics, India will hope to add to the tally of the two bronze medals the sport has won for the country so far. Sushil Kumar ended India's 56-year wait for a wrestling medal at the last Olympics in Beijing. India's first-ever medal in wrestling came through the legendary KD Jadhav, way back in the 1952 Helsinki Games. After 2008, the sport of wrestling has progressed by leaps and bounds. The high-points definitely being the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi. Hosts India had set themselves a target of 100 medals from the CWG and was lent a big hand by the wrestlers.
Sushil was the lone medallist in the previous Olympics in wrestling, will look to improve upon his performance, while his long-time friend, Yogeshwar, would like to forget his debacle of last Olympic outing and put up an improved performance on the big stage. Yogeshwar would not want to settle for anything less than gold in London after he missed a sure shot medal in the dying moments of his quarterfinal bout in Beijing.
With a total of five wrestlers to represent India at the Olympics this year, the country is hoping nothing less than a couple of Gold from its athletes and pair of Sushil and Yogeshwar Dutt are key-players in wrestling. Yashvir, who has closely witnessed Sushil and Yogeshwar’s ascent to the higher echelons of the sport, said the wrestlers have gained a lot of experience since their first Olympics in Athens in 2004 and are focused to make the quadrennial event this time around. Other hopefuls are - Amit Kumar, Narsingh Yadav and Geeta Kumari.
Hoping to see Indian Wrestlers bringing some glory for India and the wrestling game and set an example for future generation to cheer and play wrestling
