Yogeshwar Dutt and Narsingh Pancham Yadav contributed to India's ever-growing treasure of wrestling gold medals in the Commonwealth Games on Saturday.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's presence in the spectator gallery could not take the limelight away from the action on the mat as Yogeshwar overcame a career-threatening knee injury to win the 60kg title. Last-minute replacement Narsingh also stamped his authority by claiming the 74kg gold medal at the K.D. Jadhav wrestling stadium here.
Anil Mann, however, lost his first round bout to England's Leon Rattigan to crash out of the medal contention in 96kg.
Yogeshwar, who went past Australian Farzad Tarash (6-0, 7-0), South African Marius Loots (7-1) and England's Sasha Madyarchyk (4-4, 8-0) on his way to the final, lit up the evening with an exceptionally skillful performance.
Taking on an unheralded James Mancini in the summit clash, the former Asian champion displayed his agility to launch some swift counter-attacks and take the first period 3-1. The Canadian stepped up his aggression against Yogeshwar, but found the Indian too difficult to control before losing the next period 4-1.
“This is my first major win after the knee injury and it is going to boost my will power. I was out of action for almost one-and-a-half years due to the injury. I am immensely thankful to the Mittal Champions Trust for supporting me during those days,” said Yogeshwar.
The 27-year-old home grappler said he had planned an attacking strategy for the final.
Yogeshwar, who performed creditably in the Beijing Olympics and had secured the fifth place in the 2006 World championship, was thrilled to see Indian wrestling touching greater heights.
For Narsingh, it was an acid test. The reigning Asian champion had been inducted into the team after Sumit failed a dope test before the Games. At the big stage, he again proved that he was a cool customer. Following his first-round bye, the wrestler from Mumbai beat Mike Grundy of England (4-1, 3-0) and Canada's Evan Macdonald (1-0, 2-1) to race to the final.
The gold medal clash against South African Richard Addinall, a silver medallist in the Greco Roman competition here, was expected to be a tough affair and Narsingh rose to the occasion in style. He banked on his alertness and solid defence to ward off a strong challenge from Addinall and emerged victorious with a 2-0, 2-0 margin.
“I had lost in the selection trials because of a leg injury. I am thrilled to have made the best use of this God-given opportunity,” said Narsingh.
He said his journey to the medal was not easy. “The English, the Canadian and the South African (in the final) all were strong opponents. It drains you when you fight against such wrestlers. Thanks to our rigorous training, I could withstand the pressure,” said Narsingh.
