Aman Sehrawat vs Ravi Dahiya: At Chhatrasal, a model new rivalry is able to blossom

Coaches on the Chhatrasal akhara are an excited lot. The famed wrestling hotbed, which earned a foul establish after its most well-known pehlwan, the double Olympic medalist Sushil Kumar, was charged with murder, is throughout the info for the suitable causes. Just 19, Aman Sehrawat is making a fame for himself and there is focus on of him filling the big sneakers of the Chhatrasal greats.

This centre in Model Town has produced 5 Olympic medals. Sehrawat, latest from profitable his first senior gold (57 kg) on the Asian Championships, is the particular person of the second. The Under-23 Junior World Champion is the one coaches have pinned their hopes on to carry forward the legacy of the akhara.

But Sehrawat is not going to be a favourite nevertheless a challenger, even contained in the partitions of Chhatrasal.

An intriguing battleline looms and the coaches are wanting forward to the fight for supremacy between youthful upstart Sehrawat and the confirmed medal winner Ravi Dahiya, the Tokyo Olympics silver medallist.

Aman Sehrawat alongside together with his coach Lalit Kumar. (Express Photo by Gajendra Yadav)

Sehrawat continues to be a teen, Dahiya is 25 and every are 57 kg grapplers. Dahiya is making a comeback after a knee hurt dominated him out of the Asian Championships in Astana, Kyrgyzstan. Sehrawat took his place and, like Dahiya, returned as champion.

“I don’t look at it as a challenge because an Olympic medalist is already there in my category. I have been training hard all these years. He is a senior wrestler and at the moment is a bigger name than me and I respect his achievements. You have to be really good to win an Olympic medal. My aim is also to win an Olympic medal. If you are from Chhatrasal then you learn from a young age that nothing less than an Olympic medal will do,” Sehrawat said on Wednesday.

The two haven’t typically sparred with each other, says coach Lalit Kumar. “Aman is a junior, and Ravi is his senior. They do have common sparring partners but we keep the both of them apart during training. Ravi has started training again in the basement facility, Aman is training in the arena which was refurbished before the 2010 Commonwealth Games. Eventually, when the time comes they will have to go for trials and win,” Kumar says.

Huge posters of Sushil, Yogeshwar Dutt, the other wrestling medallist from the London Olympics, and Dahiya are on the partitions of the hall by which Sehrawat trains. Last 12 months Dahiya acquired the upper of Sehrawat throughout the Commonwealth Games trials in New Delhi.

Another outdated hand at Chhatrasal, Anil Mann, says coaches have a pleasant headache with two wrestlers at fully totally different ranges of their careers vying to show into the easiest.

“The past two years have not been the best for Chhatrasal. Undesirable people were moving in and out freely. Things were a little out of control. Then one of the established coaches also left and started his own akhara. About 50 wrestlers moved along with him. Ravi’s medal restored the reputation of Chhatrasal and Aman’s success shows those dark days are behind us for good,” Mann said.

Sushil did have an effect on a youthful Sehrawat.

Sehrawat started mud wrestling in Birohar, a village in Jhajjar. When Sushil acquired his second Olympic medal on the London Games, Sehrawat knowledgeable his father he wanted to maneuver out of the village and enroll the place India’s biggest wrestler expert.

“Sushil’s medal had an influence on me. Till then I was wrestling in the village but had no ambitions of trying to make it big,” Sehrawat said about his early years.

An intriguing battleline looms and the coaches are wanting forward to the fight for supremacy between youthful upstart Sehrawat and the confirmed medal winner Ravi Dahiya, the Tokyo Olympics silver medallist on the Chhatrasal Stadium.

Sehrawat turned an orphan after his mom and father died inside a 12 months of each other. His father’s passing away was a shock. He had gone residence after a 12 months at Chhatrasal on account of he had a knee hurt. It occurred to be the day his father died.

“Nobody from home had told me he had passed away perhaps because they didn’t want me to get upset and leave Chhatrasal. Those were my early days here and I would cry on most days because I found it difficult to adjust,” Sehrawat said.

Now he is a seasoned skilled.

In the final word in Astana, Sehrawat beat Kyrgyzstan’s Almaz Smanbekov 9-4 to show into the easiest wrestler in his class throughout the continent.

“A big difference is that I have learnt to counterattack. Earlier, I would concede points when opponents attempted the fitley (leg lace). I have really cut down on the mistakes. Moving from juniors to seniors is a big step. Winning the Asian Championship gold has given me the belief that I am on the right track. I also learnt a lot by competing in the ranking tournament (Zagreb),” Sehrawat said.

What moreover makes Sehrawat a formidable opponent is his stamina. He narrates what occurred all through his bout in opposition to China Wanhao Zou throughout the semifinals of the Asian Wrestling Championships. “The China wrestler started very strongly. Initially, I wanted to defend on account of I was unsure of the stamina he had.

But rapidly he started to tire. I don’t tire and that may very well be an enormous plus for me.”

Sehrawat beat Zou 7-4 to enter the final word.

Wrestler Aman Sehrawat at Chhatrasal Akhada in Delhi on Wednesday, Express {photograph} by Gajendra Yadav

Coach Kumar is keen to see how the Dahiya and Sehrawat potential rivalry performs out. “Aman is one of the most promising wrestlers I have seen at Chhatrasal. But let us not forget that Ravi is only injured. Ravi will be back to his best soon.”