Yogeshwar Dutt qualifies for World Wrestling Championships

Yogeshwar Dutt (blue) made the cut for the World Championships

Indian Olympic bronze medallist at the 2012 London Games, Yogeshwar Dutt, has sealed a spot for the World Wrestling Championships after a closely-fought 6-3 victory over Amit Kumar Dhankhar in the 65kg category. In another match in the 74kg category, Narsingh Yadav got the better of Parveen Rana to confirm his place at the Worlds in the United States of America.

Amit and Yogeshwar enjoy a frosty relationship with the former moving court last year against the latter alleging favouritism. In a heated contest between the two freestyle wrestlers, Yogeshwar emerged victorious to confirm his spot for the Olympic qualification tournament in Las Vegas.

The winner refuted his opponent’s claims last year after the match saying that he proved today that the team chosen last year was most deserving one.

“Yes, there was slight pressure on me to beat him. Although I was pretty confident of defeating him but in case, I was unlucky today, people would have got a chance to point fingers at me,” NDTV reported Yogeshwar as telling reporters after his bout.

“There would also have been criticism against the WFI, who had chosen the team last time for the Commonwealth and Asian Games. People would have said that the Federation's chosen team was not right. So today I proved that the team picked last year was the most deserving.”

Yogeshwar claimed that the fight was not that tough, but more entertaining for the fans.

“If you see the scoring, I had beaten him 6-3, so I feel I was better. I would not say it was a tough bout, but it was exciting and entertaining, and everyone enjoyed it,” said Yogeshwar in the post-match interview.

“With Sushil’s absence, the entire pressure would be on me”

Olympians Narsingh Yadav and Amit Kumar also made it to the tournament which will be played from 7th to 12th September and is the first Olympic qualification event of the year. In the 57kg category, Amit Kumar edged Sandeep Tomar 3-2 to make the cut. Elsewhere, experiences campaigner Mausam Khatri beat Satyawart Kadian 6-0 in the 97kg category while Sonu and Sumit qualified in the 61 and 125 kg category respectively. Naresh Kumar, 86kg, and Arun, 70kg, will join the team after emerging victorious in their respective rounds.

Yogeshwar Dutt also talked about the pressure on his shoulders due to double Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar’s absence from the Worlds.

“Our juniors are very good. The likes of Bajrang, Amit, Praveen Rana are doing very well. We have high hopes from them in the future,” India Today reported Yogeshwar as saying. "If I manage to win the medal, India would automatically qualify for the Rio Olympics in my category.

“The pressure is always there on me and Sushil, and since Sushil is not there this time, the entire pressure would be on me. But even junior wrestlers like Amit Kumar (57kg), Narsingh Yadav (74kg) are there and we will do well. I am hoping that we would qualify for the Olympic Games in at least 2-3 categories in the World Championships itself,” he concluded.

The World Championships will take place in Las Vegas at the Orleans Arena from 7th to 12th September.