Revision as of 13:38, 23 August 2013

VICTORY LAP: After cornering glory at the 2010 C’wealth Games

VICTORY LAP: After cornering glory at the 2010 C’wealth Games

Sushil Kumar, wrestler

IN BEIJING, he HAD RESIGNED TO LIFE OF WRESTLING IN DANGALS

TEAM TOI

Rohan Puri The Times of India 2013/08/23

On the transition from the mud akhadas to the modern mats for Indian wrestlers

Sushil Kumar says: Base humara mitti mein hi tikta hain. (Our basics take shape from wrestling in the mud). The facilities have improved in our village (Baprola) especially after Beijing Olympics in 2008. Now, even the small centres have mats. But we still train in mud once a week. The main difference is that your speed is reduced when wrestling in mud.

[Olympian Rajiv Tomar (Beijing, 120kg) ] has been our Bhaarat Kesri for ten years now. He’s the real champion of mud wrestling.

Rajiv Tomar adds: You need more speed on the mats. In mud, you wrestle for 25-30 minutes while the same is over in two minutes on the mat when you have to take the point. The smaller the bout, the faster it is.

Beijing Olympics 2008

After he lost his match in the 2008 Olympics

The top five or six wrestlers in his category (66kg, freestyle) were almost head to head. So (after the defeat), he took off his shoes and told his team, “Ki bas. Ab toh dangalon ki tayyari karenge (It’s all over, let's start preparing for the dangals back home).”

Then the second chance came with the repechage. His coach and guruji came over and told him, ‘Another chance has come your way. Give it all you’ve got. he gave it his best and the result was good.

His daily training regime in times when there is no tournament

The training remains the same. he had a shoulder injury which was troubling him for the past year. It was during the Olympics and even during the qualifiers prior to that. When he resumed training after London, he aggravated it. Everyone decided it's best to give it some rest as there was no major tournament in the period. His left shoulder had gotten thinner than the right. It was a funny sight. It's fine now am back to full time training.

He is a vegetarian and that makes his diet different from other top wrestlers in the world.

he says that he is rough and tough. he eats what he is given. This prepares him for different situations.

Rajiv Tomar points out that there was no daal-roti in Beijing, so the Indian wrestlers used to have pizza almost every day. Pizza khaake medal jeeta hain (We won a medal after a diet of pizza).

Moscow 2010: a few millions to lose the finals

I was offered cash to throw world meet final: Sushil

Ritu Sejwal TNN The Times of India 2013/08/23

Double Olympic wrestling medallist and former world champion Sushil Kumar told The Times of India that he was approached to throw the championship bout at the 2010 world meet in Moscow.

As Sushil prepared for his final against Russian Alan Gogaev, a member of his entourage came up to him and said, “Sushil, kushti ke liye keh rahe hai (They want to talk about the bout).”

Recalled Sushil. “The money offered was a few crores. For a wrestler, it was really good money. The offer was communicated to one of our foreign coaches. The event was taking place in Russia and my final opponent was a Russian. It’s our country so our player should win — that’s what they seemed to want.”

Sushil promptly demolished Gogaev 3-1 . “It was not a matter of two-four crores. Hamari bhi izzat ki baat thi (it was a matter of honour).”

Sushil went on to win India's only world championship wrestling gold medal.

Sushil recalled how he was humbled by the reception he received from the crowd after the final win in Moscow. “As I climbed down from the mat, I looked up and remembered noticing that there was no one sitting. Everyone in the stadium was giving me a standing ovation. It was most humbling,” said Sushil during a free-wheeling chat.

Among his supporters cheering him on was Jabrail Hasanov, his semifinal opponent from Azerbaijan whom Sushil had beaten 4-3. “I have participated in four or five world championships, but the support I received in Moscow in 2010 was commendable. To beat a home wrestler in a country with a strong wrestling base is not an easy task,” Sushil recalled.

London Olympics 2012

On the difference between Beijing and London Olympics

Sushil feels that ‘It was a difference of silver and bronze, nothing more. During London the federation helped the Indian wrestlers a lot. They provided him with whatever he wanted. They just said we will give you whatever you want, but you have to win a medal for the nation. It wasn’t so in Beijing.

The coach Raj Singh, Vinodji, his younger brother Amarjeet was there, and his physio too. the Indian wrestlers had trained in the US so they helped the team a lot in London. The American wrestler was ousted in the opening round, so they left Sushil and began helping him out, backing him to get fit, to get him a medal.

They gave him a lot of advice, checked his movements.

Does he have sleepless nights over an important bout the next day

Sushil feels that This happens when your performance is down. But in London, his performance was at its peak. The Indian wrestlers had trained at Colorado Springs for 15 days and then participated in a tournament over there. He defeated everyone without conceding a single point. Everyone said that he was sure to win an Olympic gold.

On money

In the dangals, on mud, he earns around Rs 5, 6 lakh per bout. As he grew, his coach kept him away from mud and trained him on the mat since you can win medals only through that. Those who succeed on the mat, stay on the mat.

Of traditional wrestling matches

Sushil points out that at a traditional wrestling centre like Belgaum even today, you will see a crowd each day. You won’t get tickets to watch even. But in the North, there is hardly any publicity. People don’t know from where to buy the tickets or if they are available, however the entry is usually free. During the Commonwealth games, the stadiums were full.

He adds: These days, in the rural areas even women can tell when there is a point or if there is a foul. Even the Dangals today have the points system to determine winners. They have realised that point system pey result pukka niklega.

The Rajiv Gandhi Gold Cup benefits the players, they earn money.

Other sports

Sushil follows and play football.