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Sunil Kumar wins 87kg title, ends 27-year wait for gold
Kumar has been India’s most promising Greco-Roman wrestler in recent times. He won gold medals twice in the Asian under-23 championships, in 2018 and 2019. This year, he won silver in the world ranking series event in Rome. The Indian contingent has high hopes from the Sonepat wrestler.
The situation cried out for decisive action. Down 1-8 in the semifinal against Kazakhastan’s Azamat Kustubayev, the 87kg Greco-Roman contest on the first day of the Asian Wrestling Championships was fast slipping out of Sunil Kumar’s grasp. Sunil, however, was not prepared to go down without a fight, and in the second period came out a different beast.
Kumar pulled over Kustubayev by the neck for a four-point throw on the edge of the mat. In the next move, he rolled over his opponent for another four points to tie scores and complete a sensational comeback. With the momentum on his side, Kumar went all out and the bout stopped with the score reading 12-8 in his favour.
By contrast, the final against Kyrgyzstan’s Azat Salidinov was a cake-walk. The 21-year old was in full control, winning 5-0. It was India’s first gold medal in Greco-Roman at the continental meet for 27 years. Pappu Yadav had last won gold in 1993. “This victory will boost my confidence in the Asian Olympic qualifier,” said Kumar, the medal wrapped around his neck.
Kumar has been India’s most promising Greco-Roman wrestler in recent times. He won gold medals twice in the Asian under-23 championships, in 2018 and 2019. This year, he won silver in the world ranking series event in Rome. The Indian contingent has high hopes from the Sonepat wrestler.
“After 25 years we have won a gold medal in the Asian Championships. He is our best bet to qualify for Olympics,” said chief national coach Hargobind Singh. It was good start to India’s campaign, and two medals came on the first day. Arjun Halakurki won bronze in the 55kg category.
In his first bout in the morning, Kumar defeated Japanese Takahiro Tsuruda 8-2.
Before the start of the championship, Hargobind’s message was loud and clear. “Use your brains. Even if you are not technically superior to your rival, you can still win if you are intelligent on the mat,” he had told his squad.
This piece of advice proved invaluable for Kumar, who made most of the opportunity in the semifinal.
“The score (8-1) didn’t weigh on my mind as I knew the Kazakh doesn’t have endurance and will wear down soon. I know this since I went to train in Kazakhstan last year,” he said.
Overall strength is an important aspect of Greco-Roman wrestling, where only the upper body can be used in the bout. Kumar displayed his prowess during the semifinal when he fought back to overpower Kustubayev. To improve his upper body strength, he has added more weights to the barbell. “I can easily do 90kg snatch,” he said. That’s almost lifting his body weight in one smooth motion.
Unlike Kumar, Halakurki was leading comfortably in the semifinal against Pouya Mohammad Naserpour. Ahead 7-1, he had one foot in the final, but lost the plot.
The 55kg wrestler looked to finish it off but Naserpour countered to great effect. He held him by the waist but Naserpour quickly turned the move in his favour to score four points, winning through a challenge. He scored three more points to snatch the lead. Halakurki went all out in attack as he saw the contest slipping away from his grasp. The ferocity of his attack in trying to push out his opponent for one winning point left Naserpour gasping for breath. He needed medical attention but he had done enough to keep himself safe from a raging Halakurki.
The 21-year-old India was downcast. He didn’t go back to the team hotel with the squad. Instead, he sat alone on the mat in the warm-up area and had his meal—porridge and two bananas—to revive his tiring body. He returned to the mat in the evening to beat Won Dong-hyeok of Korea 7-4.
It was the first major senior competition for the Karnataka wrestler, who picked up the sport from his late father who used to fight in dangals. Till four years back, he was competing in freestyle but made a switch as results were not coming.
“I always used to attack my opponent’s upper body. My leg defence was not strong and so coaches asked me to switch. I immediately started getting results, beat everyone in trials and won the senior nationals last year,” he said.
