Narsingh Yadav: A man on a mission

This has been the predicament that India’s only quota winner at the last World Championships that his fans and the grappler himself has been facing ever over the last 3 months or so.

Firstly the legal battle with his legendary compatriot Sushil Kumar, then the more serious doping issue and perceived life threats.

It has been in this hostile atmosphere, that one of India’s top medal prospects has had to train in..there were rivals on the mat, in his room and in the kitchen too!!

Subsequent hearings cleared him off any deliberate wrongdoing as Yadav valiantly argued that his food had been contaminated. The heartening aspect amongst all this drama, was WFI and its president’s unrelenting support for the wrestler.

Finally, Narsingh boarded the plane to Rio last week, only to come crash landing again, as WADA overruled NADA’s clearance procedure.

Finally, just 16 hours before his bout, Narsingh’s Olympic dreams came alive once again, after he cleared the appeal by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in a hearing that took place today at Rio De Janeiro.

Now for the challenge on the mat

Narsingh opens his challenge against Zalimkhan Khadjiev, So does the name ring a bell?

It should for all wrestling fans, as it was this Frenchman who was airlifted and pinned by Yadav in his bronze medal winning bout in the 2015 World Championships. The Frenchman who was 2014 world champion will be wary of the upper body strength that the Mumbai man brings to the mat.

Yadav who has to come through the qualification rounds tomorrow may have to contend with the Cuban Lopez who had beaten Narsingh recently at the Spanish Grand Prix.

Assuming all goes well, Narsingh will have to contend with the young and extremely talented Iranian Hassan Yazdani. This 2014, World Junior champion albeit in the 66 kg, has overcome extreme internal competition to arrive on the senior stage.

Gradually moving up the weight ranks he won Silver at last year World Championships in the non-Olympic 70kg category.

It seems the Iranian Wrestling Federation had marked him out for RIO, as Yazdani competed in the Olympic 74 kg category this year and won silvers in the Paris Grand Prix and Alexander Medved tourney.

But the big breakthrough came in the Freestyle World Cup this year. Yazdani won all his matches and was a major factor in Iran winning their fifth consecutive title. His wins over Alex Dieringer and Khetag Tsabolov vindicate his country’s faith in him.

Big guns in the opposite half

If Narsingh has to win at Rio he will have to contend with only one amongst Jordan Burroughs and Aniuar Geduev, arguably the two strongest wrestlers in the 74 kg category. The Russian and the American are slated to cross paths as early as the quarters, but no one is complaining as they are in the opposite half of the draw.

Jordan Burroughs

If one were to go by statistics across wrestling history over last 100 years, probably only the Siberian Greco-Roman great Alexander Karelin and the two mighty Japanese Saori Yoshida and Kaori Icho have superior achievements.

Since 2011, across four World Championships, one Olympic games, four Pan American Championships/Games and a few dozen Olympic trial matches with his own countrymen thrown in, Burroughs has lost just one match. This was in the 2014 World Championships to Russian Denis Tsargush. In terms of matches played over this period, his record stands at 50-1.

Aniuar Geduev

Geduev is coming off the most successful year (2015) of his career by claiming the inaugural European Games title in Baku and a bronze in the Las Vegas World Championships. Extremely strong and impressive was this Russian in the European Games and the World Championships, with only Burroughs managing to stop him at the Worlds. The scoreline was 4-3 in favor of the American.

In wrestling and weightlifting circles, many consider the Russian National championships to be as tough as any world level event. Geduev managed to win his nation’s Olympic qualifiers by defeating London Olympic bronze medalist and 3-time world champion Denis Tsargush in the finals. Tsargush is the only man to have defeated Burroughs over the last 5 years.

These are impressive credentials for the Russian who has defeated most his major opponents at RIO apart from Burroughs. He is yet to face Narsingh Yadav.

When Narsingh steps onto the mat, fans all over will be more worried about the impact of the mental and physical trauma on his wrestling more than any opponent. If he lands a medal at RIO, his would be one the more inspirational Olympic sagas that we can narrate to our grandchildren.

India awaits with fingers crossed and a prayer on her lips.