With the likelihood of suspension looming large over Narsingh Pancham Yadav's Rio Olympics ambitions, the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), on Tuesday announced that Parveen Rana will be his replacement if the ban isn’t lifted after Wednesday’s hearing. The United World Wrestling (UWW) body has accepted WFI’s nomination which now rules two-time medallist Sushil Kumar out of contention in the 74 kg category of Men’s Freestyle Wrestling.
Less than ten days to go for the Rio Games, it has come across as quite a shock for the nation given Sushil’s proven quality and success at the very stage that might see a relatively inexperienced Rana participate under the Indian flag. The 23year-old, Parveen Rana has been in the wrestling fray from his youth days and will be hoping to do his country proud if he’s given a ticket to the upcoming Games.
Therefore, let us take a look at 5 things you need to know about India’s alternative to Narsingh Yadav in the 74 kg Men’s Freestyle Wrestling this Olympics, Parveen Rana:
#1 Born on November 12, 1992, Parveen Rana started wrestling at the tender age of 8 under the guidance of his father. Chhatrasal Stadium in New Delhi has since been his primary address, where he trains under celebrated mentor Sushil Kumar.
#2 Parveen’s first major achievement arrived when he was 15, which happened to be a Gold medal at the 3rd Youth Commonwealth Games held in Pune in 2008.
#3 His best performance till date has been a bronze-winning campaign at the 2011 Junior Wrestling World Championship in Bucharest, Romania.
#4 Parveen Rana has made the podium at the senior level as well, which was a bronze medal in the 66 kg category at the 2012 Asian Senior Wrestling Championship held in Korea.
#5 At the Incheon Asian Games in 2014, Parveen had stepped up to fill in the spot in Men’s 70 kg Freestyle when Sushil was ruled out due to injury. Unfortunately, he crashed out of the quarter-finals following a 2-3 defeat to Takafumi Kojima, the eventual bronze winner from Japan.
