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From selling milk to Asiad silver, Panipat’s Nitesh fulfills his father’s wrestling dream
The sacrifices eventually began to bear fruit; Nitesh went on to win medals at national and international competitions and later secured a job in the sports quota of the Indian Railways
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While 23-year-old Nitesh Siwach was battling it out on the Asian Games mat in the 97kg Greco-Roman final, his father, Anand Siwach, was behind the counter of his modest dairy in Panipat’s Tehsil Camp locality, serving customers who relied on him for their daily supply.
Although Nitesh ultimately missed out on a historic gold, he secured India’s first silver medal in Greco-Roman wrestling at the Asian Games since 1962.
“It is a big day for me and my family, but I cannot shut the dairy, not even today. My customers come here daily and milk is an essential item. If I close the shop and go home to celebrate, many of them will not be able to get milk. So I decided to stay back,” Anand said, even as customers poured in to congratulate him.
For Anand, Nitesh’s silver medal is also the fulfilment of a dream he once had for himself. “I always wanted to become a wrestler. I participated in village-level competitions and wrestling bouts at local fairs, but I could not pursue the dream because of financial constraints,” he said.
Anand jointly owns six acres of agricultural land in Jagsi village of Sonepat with his younger brother. He told HT that it was difficult for the family with low income to support a serious wrestling career.
But when he realised that Nitesh too had developed an interest in wrestling, Anand decided that he would not allow financial constraints to stand in his son’s way. He moved away from farming and his native village and shifted to Panipat, where he started a milk business. He began procuring milk from villagers and supplying it to customers in the city.
The sacrifices eventually began to bear fruit. Nitesh went on to win medals at national and international competitions and later secured a job in the sports quota of the Indian Railways.
“Today, I feel that all those years of hard work were worth it. Nitesh has fulfilled not only his own dream but also the dream I could not fulfil,” Anand said.
“Nitesh suffered a knee injury while training at the Pratap Sports School. He had to undergo an operation. During rehabilitation, I asked him to help me in delivering milk,” his father said. For some time, Nitesh accompanied him, helping with the family business while recovering from the operation.
Nitesh began building his credentials on the international circuit. He won silver at the 2019 Cadet Asian Championships, followed by bronze at the 2022 U23 World Championships. In 2025, he won bronze at the Senior Asian Championships and improved that performance to claim silver earlier this year.
