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All eyes on Dahiya as he chases gold at the Worlds
Besides Sushil Kumar in 2010, no Indian has become a world champion.
As Ravi Dahiya prepares to take centre stage at the World Championships in Belgrade this week, the anticipation is at an all-time high. The Tokyo Olympics silver medallist has his eyes trained on a world title and nothing less will satisfy him. Stakes are high for sure. Besides Sushil Kumar in 2010, no Indian has become a world champion.
Bajrang Punia twice entered the Worlds (2018, 2019) but even at the peak of his powers, he fell short, finishing second to Takuto Otoguro of Japan (16-9) in a pulsating final in Budapest in 2018. Given his struggles with injuries since winning bronze in Tokyo. Punia will be happy with a medal of any colour this time.
Dahiya, on the other hand, has simply been unstoppable after Tokyo, where even the glitter of an Olympic silver was not enough to lessen his grief of losing a gold medal. Dahiya was inconsolable after losing to Zaur Uguev 7-4. He has since used the hurt to win at the Asian Championships in Ulaanbaatar and at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
The one constant in Dahiya's style has remained his relentlessness. We saw that at the Olympics and we see that now too. He can never be counted out, and once he gets going he can turn it around quickly. Even a close affair becomes a lopsided contest in no time as Dahiya gives his rivals no time at all.
“His target is a world title and he has been very focused and serious,” says coach Vinod Kumar, who has seen Dahiya’s growth from his early years at the Chhatrasal Stadium in Delhi.
Kumar, who also travelled with Sushil Kumar as coach, says Dahiya has the same hunger for a big medal.
“Ravi’s stamina and endurance are very good and he saps his opponent's energy. He snaps, pulls, drives – never gives any moment of respite; never stops wrestling,” says Kumar, who was in Dahiya’s corner at the Commonwealth Games too.
“The only thing is that he has difficulty in maintaining weight. His ideal weight is 61kg but he can't fight there. It's not an Olympic category. Every time he has to shed weight it’s a big task to maintain his power and strength,” he says.
For the same reason, Dahiya had competed in 61 kg this season at the start of the season at the Ranking Series in Istanbul, where Gulomjon Abdullaev (UZB) gave him a tough fight in the final. At the Asian Championships, Dahiya returned to 57kg and was clinical in his display clinching his third successive Asian title. The Commonwealth Games gold was a cakewalk for Dahiya. Without wasting any time, Dahiya was off to Russia for a month-long camp to prepare for the Worlds.
He has decided he will continue to switch between 61kg and 57kg till the Paris Olympics. For major championships, he will come down to the lower weight, and would prefer to go up in smaller meets. That way he will avoid putting his body under strain.
In Belgrade, Dahiya’s nemesis Zaur Uguev will not feature. The Russian has beaten him, albeit closely, in both worlds semi-finals in 2019 and Olympic final. That said, there will be USA’s reigning world champion and Olympic bronze medallist, Thomas Gilman, besides silver medallist Alireza Sarlask from Iran.
Sonam loses
Making her comeback, Sonam Malik lost her second round to Ana Paula Godinez of Canada 7-2. The Indian had beaten Ayaulym Kassymova of Kazakhstan 8-0. In 55kg, Sushma Shokeen (IND) will play Mariana Dragutian in repechage, having lost to Oleksandra Khomenets of Ukraine 10-5 in the quarter-finals. In Greco Roman 67 kg, Ashu lost to Firat Murat of Turkey 8-0 in repechage round while Deepanshu went down to Nikoloz Kakhelashvili of Italy 12-0.
