Commonwealth gold medalist has his eyes set on upcoming Asian Games gold medal
India's Yogeshwar Dutt celebrates after winning the Gold Medal against Canada's Jevon Balfour during the Men's Freestyle Wrestling65kg Final match (Photo: AP)
Hyderabad: A day after returning from him his heroics at the recently concluded Commonwealth Games, Yogeshwar Dutt is back to his board room, his akhada. With the Asian Games coming up the 31-year-old wrestler is eyeing gold. “I had prepared hard for the Commonwealth Games and now that it’s over, I have my eyes set on the upcoming Asian Games,” he said.
“In fact I have already started training for it. I hit the gym today and did some weight training to add more power to my game and improve in the areas I lag,” the two-time CWG gold medalist added.The Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna awardee is looking to convert the bronze medal he won way back at the 2006 Doha Asian Games to yellow. “A lot has happened from 2006 until now. Last time I competed in the 60kg category and now I will be competing in the 65 kg category. I am taking it slow and practicing hard for the gold at Asian Games,” the modest Yogeshwar said.
Coming back from a career-threatening knee-injury layoff of almost a year and having participated in just one international event in the new weight category Yogeshwar took part in the 65 kg bout in this edition of the CWG as against his erstwhile 60 kg category the confidence of an athlete tends to be low. But not for Yogeshwar. Not in Glasgow. “As an athlete one has to be prepared for everything. I knew I could make it to the Games despite the injury lay-off and strike gold. I was not low on confidence. In fact I believed in my ability and backed myself to reach the final and eventually win,” he said.
“In September I learnt that I had to upgrade my weight category in order to compete at the Games. I needed to act fast and increase not only my weight but also the power. We planned accordingly,” he said.“One can very easily put on weight but not power. So I underwent weight-training thrice a week to make sure I put on more muscle and less fat. I trained for six hours every day for eight months to be where I am today,” he added.
When he won the 2012 Olympic bronze, the Haryana government gave him a cash prize and a piece of land. This time the Hooda government has offered him Rs 1 crore as reward for his heroics. “In our sport we generally don’t get such rewards. It’s a great gesture by Hoodaji and I wish every government gave their state players such encouragement. I will continue to fight for my country and bring as many laurels as possible,” the Padma Shri awardee concluded.
Next Story
