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Asian championship: all eyes on Sushil

Y.B. Sarangi

NEW DELHI: With the presence of several World, Olympic and Asian medallists, the Asian wrestling championship, starting at the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex wrestling stadium here on Wednesday, is going to be as tough as ever.

The championship will serve as a ‘test' event for the upcoming Commonwealth Games.

However, considering the fact that the competition at the continental level is much higher than the Commonwealth standards, the event would be a precursor to the Asian Games scheduled to be held in November.

“There is no doubt that an Asian competition is tougher than that at the Commonwealth level. But we have practised very hard and are confident of a good showing before the home fans,” said India coach Jagminder Singh on Tuesday.

India had returned two silver and four bronze medals to finish seventh in the Pattaya (Thailand) edition of the championship last year.

Ramesh out with injury

For the host, World championship bronze medallist Ramesh Kumar (74 kg freestyle), nursing an injury, is a notable absentee. Narsingh Yadav has replaced Ramesh.

All eyes will be on Sushil Kumar, who had bagged a silver medal in the 2007 edition.

The Olympic bronze medallist had courted controversy by slightly over-weighing just before the Pattaya event and being pulled up by the Union Sports Ministry for his “negligence.”

Sushil (66 kg FS), nevertheless, has overcome it. “That (the Pattaya episode) is a closed chapter. This time he is well-prepared,” said Yashvir Singh, Sushil's coach.

In other freestyle categories, last year's bronze medallist Anuj Kumar (84 kg), Mausam Khatri (96 kg) and Rajiv Tomar (120 kg) will shoulder the responsibility for the home side.

However, their progress to the podium would not be easy because of the presence of the likes of Olympic silver medallist Yusup Abdusalomov (84 kg) of Tajikistan and bronze winner Marid Mutalimov (120 kg) of Kazakhstan.

In Greco Roman, Commonwealth championship gold winners Rajender Kumar (55 kg), Ravinder Singh (60 kg), Manoj Kumar (84 kg), Ashok Kumar (96 kg) and Dharmender Dalal (also a silver medallist in Pattaya) inspire confidence.

The powerful Iranians always dominate in men's competitions in Asia. However, with a team of youth and experience, it will be interesting to see how they fare in this championship. China, hosting the Asian Games this year, will also be serious about its prospects.

In the women's section, India is fielding talented wrestlers like Babita (51 kg), Geeta (55 kg) and the experienced duo of Alka (59 kg) and Geetika Jakhar (67 kg).

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