Ravi has promised to win gold, says wrestler’s granny

Diwali came early for the Dahiya household at Nahri village in Sonepat district of Haryana on Wednesday afternoon after Ravi Dahiya sensationally turned around the 57kg semi-final bout by pinning Kazakhstan’s Nurislam Sanayev to enter the finals

Diwali came early for the Dahiya household at Nahri village in Sonepat district of Haryana on Wednesday afternoon after Ravi Dahiya sensationally turned around the 57kg semi-final bout by pinning Kazakhstan’s Nurislam Sanayev to enter the finals.

Family and fans celebrating the victory of wrestler Ravi Dahiya at his native village in Sonepat on Wednesday. (Manoj Dhaka/HT)

The family and others broke for a jig and celebrated Ravi’s stunning triumph. Most excited was his grandmother Savitri Devi, who was teary-eyed after the win and said, “Chora bol ke gaya hai gold laake dega (Ravi has promised to win a gold medal in the Olympics). We have seen a tough time as a family and Monu (Ravi) has now brought good days for us.”

The village has a population of around 15,000. Ravi, 23, son of a farmer, is the third Olympian to emerge from this village after Mahavir Singh (1980 Moscow, 1984 Los Angeles) and Amit Dahiya (2012 London).

With the semi-final win, Ravi became the second Indian wrestler ever to enter the Olympics final after Sushil Kumar back in 2012 London Olympics.

Ravi idolises Sushil and Yogeshwar Dutt. In fact Sushil and coach Satpal Singh have worked relentlessly on grooming Ravi at Chhatrasal Akhara in Delhi.

“Sushil has played a big role in shaping up Ravi’s career. He was always bright as a young trainee and had the hunger to reach the top. I was not surprised with the way he played the semi-final bout. It is his natural game. He likes to attack. He was just himself and did not come under big-stage pressure. He is going to win the final and get India a gold,” said former wrestler Darshan Lal, who is now the vice-president of the Wrestling Federation of India.

Ravi picked up the sport at six.

Nahri village residents and people from adjoining villages reached Ravi’s house to congratulate his father Rakesh Dahiya.

Recalling Ravi’s formative years, Rakesh said, “I enrolled him at Chhatrasal Akhara and before that he would just train at the farm land. Raj Pahalwan was training him at the village. Despite financial crunch, we sent him to Delhi.”

“I used to travel for one hour everyday to give him milk and fruits which have been his diet for the last 10 years. Coach Satpal had identified his talent and had told me that he will make India proud,” he added.

Wrestling runs in the Dahiya clan’s blood. His father used to wrestle in his youth but could not pursue it due to financial issues.

Ravi’s father owns land which is less than an acre in the Nahri village. His younger brother Pankaj Dahiya could not come home but watched the bouts with his friends at the Chhatrasaal Stadium where he trains as a Greco-Roman wrestler.

Ravi will be the fifth wrestler from India to win an Olympic medal after KD Jadhav (bronze in 1952), Sushil Kumar (bronze in 2008 and silver in 2012) and Yogeshwar Dutt (bronze in 2008) and Sakshi Malik (bronze in 2016).

Ravi is a two-time Asian Championships gold medallist and a bronze medal winner at the World Championships in 2019.