Jubilant grapplers want opponents to fear them
New Delhi: Inspired by established senior pros like Olympic hero Sushil Kumar, the new crop of Indian wrestlers made quite a statement at the World Championships with three medals and the sprightly youngsters are now looking to instill fear in their opponents wherever they go.With the 2016 Olympics in sight, they have already made the quadrennial showpiece their target and don't need to look too far for inspiration after the feats of two-time Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar and his bronze-winner counterpart Yogeshwar Dutt.The promise shown by Amit Kumar, Bajrang and Sandeep Tulsi Yadav at the recently-concluded World Championships in Hungary, Budapest augurs well for the Indians and the trio is keen to build on the momentum."It feels great to be known as a world championships medal winner. But I have a bigger goal in mind, which is that of winning an Olympic medal. We have role models for us and have the ability to it. We just have to maintain our good performances to realise the dream at Rio," said Amit, who won a silver medal in the 55kg freestyle category."We have the Asian Games, Commonwealth Championships and World Cup next year. All are important tournaments and we want countries to fear our wrestlers," he said.The other freestyle medallist, Bajrang said the presence of Indian stalwarts on the ringside was a major boost and their achievements inspire them to set Olympic glory as a target."Both Sushil and Yogeshwar are very inspirational. They do not allow us to shift our focus from our target. They keep on reminding us of the target which is Olympics," said Bajrang, the 60kg bronze-medallist."It was just my second tournament with the senior team (after Asian Championships in April). I am content that I have won the bronze in both the events," he added.Sandeep delivered India a historic medal in the Greco Roman category. He had been in the reckoning at the national level and the recent 66kg bronze would be a massive confident booster for the Mumbai-lad."Greco Roman is very popular in European countries. It draws large crowds there. But unfortunately, in India, it is still to catch up. Hopefully my medal will attract more wrestlers to this format," said Sandeep."I am also targetting the 2016 Olympics. I will ensure regular exposure at the international level to keep myself up for that competition," he said.
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