Wrestling News: Sunil Kumar is probably the best Greco-Roman wrestler India has ever produced. Under the calm demeanour, he packs enormous strength enough to throw an opponent flying in the air on the wrestling mat. His performances at the Rome Ranking Series in January where he won silver and Asian Championship in February where he bagged gold had made him India’s biggest hope to bid medal chances at Tokyo Olympics in the classical style. But the unprecedented outbreak of Covid-19 played spoilsport on all his plans. “I was ready for the Asian Qualifiers and it would have been good if they were held as per the schedule,” he said with a tinge in his voice.
The wrestler is currently training at the Mehar Singh Akhada in Rohtak, Haryana under coach Ranbir. At the akhada, he says, training is more fun now as life is back to as it was before the lockdown. “I had been training hard even during the lockdown. But it was never the same. Now that sparring has resumed at the akhada, wrestling is more fun now and I feel like training harder as life is back to normal,” the Asian Championship gold medallist told Wrestling TV.
Also Read: No national camp for wrestlers, SAI to reassess decision in August
Although life now has much more meaning for him, Kumar eagerly awaits for the resumption of national camp at Sonepat, Haryana. “We are all waiting for it to resume soon. I had called our head coach Hargobind to take an update on it. He told me that it will resume soon,” he said. “I have been in touch with mostly all the Greco-Roman wrestlers and we all want the camp to restart”.
The training camp was suspended by Sports Authority of India (SAI) in the wake of covid-19. SAI has decided to put the camp on hold as many top wrestlers have expressed apprehension over it in the wake of covid-19. SAI will reassess the course of action in August.
World Championships in December
The Tokyo Olympics still has a year to go but for Kumar to reach it, he needs to confirm India’s quota in the 87kg weight category. And to do it, Kumar says, the best chance will be at the Asian Olympic Qualifiers which are scheduled for March 2021. “The postponement of Asian Qualifiers was very unfortunate. But now, we have time to train harder and give our best. Asian Qualifiers are easier than world qualifiers as there are fewer nations competition,” he said adding that the upcoming world championship will be a good chance for him to check where he stands. United World Wrestling (UWW) had announced that it will world championship in Belgrade, Serbia in December. “We have not competed for so long. But now that world championships are being held it is a good opportunity for us to get into competition form ahead of the qualifiers”. he concluded.
