Yogeshwar ends 28-year gold drought in wrestling
All the hopes of winning the gold medal in wrestling were pinned on Yogeshwar Dutt. Tension was taut when he entered the packed competition hall at the Dowon Gymnasium on Sunday evening. It was a do or die even for the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) officials present for the match as all other wrestlers (men and women) failed to reach the Finals this Sunday.
However, the london Olympic bronze medalist Dutt fought smartly in the Final to beat Tajikistan’s Zalimkhan Yusupov by a slender 1-0 in the men’s 65kg freestyle category to end India’s 28-year-long wrestling gold drought at the Asian Games. Kartar Singh won the last gold at the 1986 Seoul Games.
Yusupov proved to be a tough opponent as he didn’t allow Dutt to score more than one point even after the Indian managed to get hold of his leg – Dutt’s favourite move – thrice. Without denying the Tajiskistan wrestler any credit of putting up a good challenge, Dutt’s failure to convert his leg-hold into points, which generally comes in multiples, could be associated with his semifinal bout.
Having to avoid a certain defeat against China’s Katai Yeerlanbieke in the semi-finals, Dutt spent all his energies to secure a place in the final. Dutt was trailing throughout the semi-final bout and was only seconds away from losing it. But he brought out a magical move to score four points and secure the bout 9-7.
However, the bout drained him completely and he could be seen taking time during the Final round. His experience of playing at the highest level that saved the day for him and made him the first wrestler to win an Asian Games Gold in 28 years. His opponent was a lot inexperience in comparison as he started playing at the international level in 2012 only. “Yes, there was some pressure on me. Especially after Olympics performance, everybody expects me to perform well,” he said after winning the gold medal. Interestingly, it was Dutt’s third gold medal in South Korea. “Korea is lucky for me. I won two Asian Championships here and now Asian Games Gold,” he said.
“It benefited that I didn't go for the World Championship otherwise it would have been difficult to recover as there was only a gap of 10 days,” Dutt said, dedicating the medal to his father who passed away six month ago. “This is a big medal for me and I dedicate this medal to my father and all my countrymen. My father passed away six months back and I could win only a bronze (in 2010), so this gold is for him.”
Meanwhile, Satywart Kadian lost his bronze medal match to Mamed Ibragimov of Kazakhstan 0-3 in the men’s 97kg freestyle category. Satywart also lost his quarterfinal match to Magomed Musaev of Kyrgyzstan and made it to the medal round through repechage after beating Pakistan's Bilal Hussain Awan.
In the women’s category, Babita Kumari failed to win any medal for India after reaching the bronze medal round of the 55kg category through repechage. On her way to the quarterfinals, she first defeated Cambodia's Srey Mao Dorn 5-0 and then got the better of Aiym Abdildina of Kazakhstan 3-1. In the last quarter-finals, however, Babita found 15-time World Champion and triple Olympic gold medallist Saori Yoshida of Japan and as expected lost the bout. In the bronze medal match, Babita lost to Xuechun Zhong of China 3-1. Another wrestler Jyoti also lost in the Freestyle 75kg quarterfinals.