With Olympics postponed, 74kg category will become ‘group of death’ as Narsingh and Sushil likely to return

The postponement of the Tokyo Olympics for a year is a good news for some and difficult to digest for others. With the Summer Games deferred to 2021, wrestlers who had lost hope, will try to throw their hat in fray for an Olympic berth. One such weight class will be the 74kg Men’s Freestyle which can now be easily termed as group of death. 5 top wrestlers of the country will now be in line for the place in Indian team for the 2021 Olympics.

Before the postponement, Jitender owing to his medal-winning performance at the Asian Championships was India’s number one choice to participate in the Olympic Qualifier. As Sushil Kumar kept missing the national trials Jitender almost finalized his place for the continental qualifiers in the category. But the announcement of rescheduling the Tokyo Games to 2021, has come as a ray of hope for two-time Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar and 2015 World medallist Narsingh Yadav. While Sushil nursing couple of injuries currently gets sometime to prove his relevance, Narsingh will be eyeing a comeback after serving a four-year doping ban which ends in July. If that wasn’t enough, young Gaurav Baliyan will make the category more challenging as he gets one more year to hone his talent. 

Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) Assistant Secretary Vinod Tomar has said that since the Games have been postponed, they are ready to give any wrestler a chance to prove their mettle.

Back in December 2012, when he got a two-year ban for failing dope test after winning a silver medal at the Nationals in Gonda, his fledging career looked over even before starting. But determination and patience worked for him. After Narsingh Yadav failed the doping test in 2016, Jitender was given a chance to prove his worth once again. Upon returning he won a gold medal at the 2015 Kerala National Games. It was followed by a national championship gold. Jitender is also a Commonwealth Championship gold medallist in 2016. Apart from that, he now has 2020 Asian Championship Silver medal in his kitty.

Known as ‘pehlwanji’ by the young wrestlers, Sushil is an epitome of Indian wrestling. He is role model for every young wrestling aspirant in the country. His stature is unmatchable in the Indian wrestling circuit. He is the first Indian to win two Olympic medals – 2008 Beijing bronze and 2012 London silver – and has been eyeing for the third medal ever since. Ever since his knee injury in 2015, the former World Champion has been trying to make a successful comeback for India. First, his hopes were side-tracked by emergence of Narsingh Yadav, later it was injuries which made Sushil sit out of various national and international events. But the 2010 World Champion will now fancy his chances once again with one year to prepare for the Olympics.

One of the brightest wrestlers to be produced by India, Narsingh was a force to reckon with during his prime days. But a ban for doping in 2016 brought his rising graph to a steep fall. He claimed that his food was spiked and was eventually given a four-year ban by the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) a day before his opening bout in Rio. But now after hearing the news of postponement, he is elated and believes, “God has given him this opportunity and he will not let it go now”. Narsingh is 2015 World Championship medallist, and 2010 Asian Championship gold medallist.

After Narsingh was banned, and Sushil still struggling with the injury, Praveen had become India’s top choice in 74kg. But an injury in 2019 had put him out of action. He has won a bronze medal in 2012 Asian Championships , gold medal in 2013 Commonwealth Championship, and a silver medal in 2019 Asian Championship.

Although still new on the international scene, Gaurav has been one of the rising stars for India. His win against much experience Praveen Rana at the 2019 Nationals and a silver medal at the 2020 Asian Championship were enough to announce his arrival to the world of wrestling as worthy challenger to his predecessors.