Back from US camp, wrestlers ooze confidence

NEW DELHI: Only KD Jadav and Sushil Kumar, among Indian wrestlers, have had the opportunity to put their foot on the Olympic podium so far. But Yogeshwar Dutt, in his third attempt at an Olympic medal, is determined to add his name to the short but illustrious list.
Indian grapplers returned home on Sunday after a high-altitude training camp in Colorado Springs in the US.Yogeshwar, who lost a close quarterfinal bout in Beijing in the 60kg freestyle category, told TOI that the focus is on earning more points during bouts.
"The coaches there would sit with us and tell us where we lacked during bouts. They would tell us how to win more points from a particular position, how to convert one point into two points. And between bouts they would talk about attacking techniques," the two-time Olympian said.
"We had seven to eight sparring partners in each weight category and US had featured three teams including their best junior team. Everyone focused on leg attack and defence. Wrestling is not about upper body anymore, it's more about leg work," he explained.
Last time the Indian contingent trained in Colorado Springs was in January ahead of the Asian Championship. Yogeshwar, who had won gold in that meet in South Korea, felt that training was better this time. "There were more wrestlers (around 70) this time compared to our last training stint in January," he said.
Elaborating on the training, Yogeshwar said, "We trained twice in the day. The morning session included gym workout while the evening training was about matt training. Once in a week, mostly Friday, we would fight 4-5 bouts to train for competition."
The wrestlers will be training at the SAI centre in Bhalgad before leaving for Belarus on July 19. "We have three-four days in India before we move to Belarus. Jo Kami wahan reh gayi usse yahan improve karenge," Yogeshwar said.
When asked if he any different diet in the US, the Haryana-based wrestler said he was content with Indian food. "Ek do baar pizza try kiya par achcha nahi laga (We tried pizza a few times but did not like it). Diet was not a concern as they had arranged for Indian food," he said.
Did they unwind and go out for sightseeing? "When not training we watched competition videos and never got a chance to go for sightseeing due to the hectic schedule."
Coach Yashvir Singh, who monitored their progress in US, said the grapplers responded well during the training. "The confidence level is very good. Four-five bouts in one day tested the stamina and physical fitness of our wrestlers. We had very good competition training in the last week," he said.
On choosing the same venue for the second time, Yashvir said: "The reason we chose it again was because our wrestlers had a fruitful stint when we first went there in January. The authorities had cooperated well."
On the preparations in the run-up to the London Olympics, Yashvir said the wrestlers had gained a lot of experience and training in Belarus will be an add-on. "Belarus will help us get acclimatized to the London time-zone and the weather. The fact that seven to eight countries will be training together will be to our advantage," he said.
Amit Kumar, who at 19 is the youngest member of the wrestling contingent for the Games, said, "Training with Sushil and Yogeshwar has helped me immensely. I have improved on my counter attack and speed."
India's first woman wrestler at Olympics, Geeta Phogat, who will be participating in 55kg category, said the training sting has added to her confidence level.
"The best part about the training was that we had different partners for bouts and every time there was a different situation," she said. "I did not get a chance to fight with their Olympic-bound wrestler in my weight category but the fact that I beat another wrestler (64kg) way above my weight category in training gave a boost to my confidence level," she added.
Geeta, who was accompanied by sister Babita and Punjab's Navjot Kaur, said her partners too benefited from the training.
"My sparring partners Babita and Navjot (64kg) also benefitted from the training. I did the bouts with Babita, but the presence of Navjot helped me during power training," she said. When asked about her competitors in London, Geeta confessed: "Japan and Canada will be tough. The wrestler from Japan is a two-time Olympic Champion."