From the publishers of THE HINDU VOL.31 :: NO.52 :: Dec. 27, 2008 • Contents
	YEAR-END SPECIAL / BEIJING OLYMPICS/ INDIA’S OTHER MEDAL WINNERS A red-letter day Nine days after Abhinav Bindra won the gold, Sushil Kumar (wrestling) and Vijender Singh (boxing) won bronze medals on the same day — August 20 — at the Beijing Olympics. It was a great moment for Indian sport, writes Kamesh Srinivasan. Before Beijing, India had won two medals in a single edition of the Olympic Games only in 1952 in Helsinki. Otherwise, it had always been a solitary medal — most of the time in hockey — or nothing at all. Before the 2008 Games, India had won only four individual medals — K. D. Jadhav (wrestling, bronze, Helsinki 1952), Leander Paes (tennis, bronze, Atlanta 1996), Karnam Malleswari (weightlifting, bronze, Sydney 2000) and Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore (shooting, silver, Athens 2004) — in six decades. Against such a backdrop, it was indeed an overwhelming experience for India as wrestler Sushil Kumar and boxer Vijender Singh ensured two Olympic medals, albeit bronze, on the same day, on August 20, at the Beijing Olympics. And coming after the first individual gold medal by air rifle expert Abhinav Bindra, this was a great moment for Indian sport. Sushil, 25, who lost in the second round of the 66kg freestyle, after a bye in the first, came up with a sterling display in repechage to win the bronze medal. Repechage was introduced for the first time in wrestling at the Olympics whereby the ones who lost to the eventual finalists were given a chance to fight for the two bronze medals. Sushil virtually snatched the medal from his opponent, Leonid Spiridonov, after he had lost the toss with the bout tied after two rounds. The Kazakh, by virtue of having won the toss, had the advantage of literally tightening his grip on the Indian in that heady climax. But Sushil countered the third period clinch with a scissors kick and ankle pick to defeat Spiridonov. Sushil’s guru, Mahabali Satpal, danced in the stands after his ward’s win. He then showered kisses on the lad who rushed to him to seek his blessings by touching his feet in traditional style. Sushil, thus, fulfilled his dreams after he had given an early glimpse of his talent when he won the World cadet title in Manchester in 1998. “Each of those three bouts was tough. I was actually fighting every 15 minutes. I was tired. My opponent was also tired. But I was confident of winning a medal through repechage. We had very good preparation,” said Sushil, as he interacted with the media after receiving the medal from the legendary pole vaulter, Sergey Bubka. Sushil had won those three bouts in repechage in the space of about 70 minutes. It was a gutsy performance indeed. Unlike Sushil, India’s middleweight boxer Vijender Singh could not afford a bad start. The 22-year-old had given a hint of his ability by winning the silver medal at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne and the bronze at the Asian Games in 2006. The tall and well-built boxer from Bhiwani had the energy and skill to win a historic medal for the country. After Gurcharan Singh had missed a medal in the last few seconds of his bout in the light heavyweight class at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Indian boxing had really worked its way up to world standards. But with Akhil Kumar and Jitender Kumar losing in the quarterfinals, India’s hopes of winning a medal seemed bleak. However, Vijender Singh kept his cool and subdued Carlos Gongora of Ecuador 9-4 in the quarterfinals to assure India its first Olympic boxing medal. Vijender, who finished 17th at the 2004 Athens Olympics, could have won a better medal had he not been over-cautious against Emilio Correa Bayeaux of Cuba in the semifinals. The Cuban won 8-5 and two of those points accrued for Vijender because his opponent was warned for holding in the final stages. Vijender just could not get his punch through on that day. Vijender had studied the video of Bayeaux with the help of the Doordarshan crew, but he was surprised by the change of tactics by the Cuban who used his left more. Following the bronze medals, both Sushil and Vijender won many rewards at home. While Sushil returned to the mat immediately on arriving from Beijing and even competed in the National Championship in Ayodhya, Vijender chose to skip the World Cup, busy as he was with modelling and walking the ramp. But nobody can grudge Vijender his time under the sun, for he has given boxing a new status in the country, just as Sushil has done for wrestling. Printer friendly page   Send this article to Friends by E-Mail Contents • Daily Sports • The Hindu • Business Line • Frontline • Publications • eBooks • Images Copyright © 2008 Sportstar Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of Sportstar.