National Sports Day special: Where India stands in the world of sports

Wrestling

The Good

India finished with nine medals – 2 gold, 1 silver and 6 bronze – their best-ever tournament display – at the 26th Asian Wrestling Championship. Amit Kumar Dhankar picked up India’s second gold medal as the hosts put up their best-ever showing.

Virender Singh, a deaf-mute wrestler hailing from Delhi, won India’s only gold medal at the Deaflympics in Sofia, Bulgaria, on Saturday. He competed in the men’s 74kg freestyle event at the 22nd Summer Deaflympics.

Virender Singh

Junior Indian wrestlers create history by bagging 17 of the 24 medals up for grabs in the recently concluded Asian Junior Championships in Thailand. At the Cadet Asian Championships in Mongolia, Indian wrestlers grabbed a further 3 gold, 9 silver and 9 bronze medals. India also bagged the Championship Trophy in the freestyle category.

The Bad

Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar revealed that he was offered money to throw the final championship bout in the world meet at Moscow in 2010. The Russian contingent is alleged to have offered Kumar Rs. 5 crore to throw the final match.

Indian wrestling legend Kartar Singh handed six-year ban by Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) for allegedly conducting a sham tournament without any top wrestlers contesting. Despite repeated pleas by the WFI to postpone the Shaheed Bhagat Singh International Wrestling Tournament 2012, Kartar Singh went ahead with it and is alleged to have pocketed sponsorship fees in the region of Rs. 1 crore.