While numerous top Indian wrestlers like Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat gave the event a skip since countries like the United States of America, Japan, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Cuba are not participating, the tournament is being viewed as a great opportunity by the likes of Narsingh Yadav. The 31-year-old, set to compete in the 74kg freestyle event, is by no means a favourite to land an Olympic quota in this category.
Jitender and two-time Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar are very much ahead of Yadav in the pecking order but the 2015 World Championship bronze medallist is not giving up.
The four years exile have been the toughest of Narsingh’s career. He is 31 now, having lost the best years of his career. He’s seen sponsors and friends desert him. But he isn’t done yet. He continued to train all through his ban. Unable to participate in any official freestyle tournament, he only had the odd ‘mitti‘ dangal (mud wrestling tournament) for any sort of practice.
Yadav is definitely confident in his abilities and hopes that a good performance will help his bid to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.
“In my mind, I think my level has not changed. But it’s true that many years have passed since I competed. In one way, it’s a big thing for me just to compete but I also know that if I do well, it will give me a big boost (to the hope of qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics). That’s why this is a very important tournament for me,” he explained.