India had a superb run at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham as all of their 12 wrestlers came back home with medals. Among them were Olympic silver medalist Ravi Kumar Dahiya who was sensational in Tokyo a year ago and was even better in Birmingham as he simply ran through his weight category to bag the Commonwealth Games gold medal. This time he also smiled while receiving the gold at the podium.
But now Ravi Dahiya has set his sights on the World Wrestling Championships and for that he will be training in Vladikavkaz, Russia for 29 days and it will allow the grappler to be ready for the World Championship as it will be much tougher than the Commonwealth Games.
The star Indian grappler got his approval for the Russia training camp by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS). Dahiya who is on the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) will receive funding for his training and other facilities as the grappler aims for the elusive gold medal in the upcoming Paris Olympics.
The training will specifically look to improve Dahiya’s skills on the mat as he looks to prepare himself for the upcoming World Championship which is scheduled to take place in Belgrade, Serbia next month.
The Olympic medalist will be partnered by his coach Arun Kumar and sparring partner Sahil and Physiotherapist Dr. Munish Kumar. The entire training, lodging and other facilities will be funded by the TOPS as they look at Ravi Dahiya as a top prospect to achieve the Gold medal at the Paris Olympics. The 24-year-old was beaten in the finals in Tokyo and was very unhappy about it. But he will be looking to do one better in Paris.
He won the bronze medal at the 2019 World Championship but after that he has won Silver at the Olympics in Tokyo and gold at the Commonwealth Games recently in Birmingham. So he will be looking to improve on his last World Championship performance.
The 24-year-old grappler looked in prime form as he defeated Nigerian wrestler Ebikewenimo Welson by technical superiority 10-0 win in the finals of the 57 kg men’s category. He had a little tricky semifinals against Pakistan’s Asad Ali but after a couple of minutes he looked more like himself to win 14-4 in the last four battle.
For now all eyes will be on him at the World Wrestling Championship and for that he will be sweating it out in Russia and will get the best facilities and hopefully come back home with more accolades in the build up to the Paris Olympics.
