On a day when he was the only high-profile name in action, Satyawart Kadian proved he was still the best wrestler in the 97kg category, sailing through his bouts to win his sixth National title at the 65th men’s freestyle National championships which concluded on Sunday.
The absence of archrival Mausam Khatri due to injury made things easier for Kadian. Winning his title clash by pinning Services’ Monu in less than three minutes, Kadian insisted that it was never easy on the mat, but said he was satisfied with the triumph nevertheless.
“Every wrestler prepares with an aim to knock out his opponent at the earliest and a quick win is always welcome. But, on the mat, anyone can win. Winning a National title is special,” Kadian said.
After a first-round exit at the World Cup last month, this was an opportunity for Kadian to stake a claim for a second shot at the Olympic qualifiers. The 97kg is one of the three categories where India is yet to book a spot for Tokyo. The winners at the National championships are likely to be named for the Matteo Pellicon rankings series in Rome from March 4 to 7. The trials for the Olympic qualifiers in April are expected to be held in March.
In the other Olympic weight category (65kg), the 21-year-old Rohit came back from an 8-0 deficit to win 12-8 against Sharvan in the final, scoring all his points in the second half. This was Rohit’s first senior National in a category that has Bajrang Punia as the numero uno.
The results:
65kg: 1. Rohit (Har), 2. Sharvan (SSCB), 3. Amit (SSCB) and Anuj (Har); 70kg: 1. Vishal Kaliraman (RSPB), 2. Parveen (RSPB), 3. Karan (SSCB) and Sushil (Har); 79kg: 1. Rahul Rathee (RSPB), 2. Pritam (RSPB), 3. Veerdev Gulia (SSCB) and Pradeep (SSCB); 86kg: 1. Praveen Chahar (Del), 2. Vetal (Mah), 3. Deepak (RSPB) and Sanjeet (SSCB); 97kg: 1. Satyawart Kadian (RSPB), 2. Monu (SSCB), 3. Sumit Gulia (Har) and Ashish (Del).
Team: 1. RSPB (192 points), 2. SSCB (162), 3. Haryana (138).
