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Last Friday, two-time Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar made a much awaited comeback to the wrestling mat. In his first tournament since 2014, Kumar stormed to victory at the National Wrestling Championship, with five wins in five matches. And he did all of that by spending just two minutes and 33 seconds on the mat.
Amazing, right?
Except, there’s a small catch.
He didn’t really have to work hard, or work at all, to win the quarter-final, semi-final and final.
That’s right. In three of those matches, Sushil Kumar’s opponents gave him a walkover. Why, you ask?
Tradition, it seems. Like the announcer at the stadium explained after the semi-final walkover,
If you want a short answer, here it is – “Nobody.”
When two wrestlers from the same state clash, the senior is often given a walkover by the junior. And especially since wrestlers compete several bouts in a single day, this allows the senior athlete, expected to go further in the competition, to get some rest.
But think about it. At the recently concluded National Wrestling Championship, Sushil Kumar was representing the Railways. Praveen, who conceded the quarter-final, was representing Haryana, and Sachin Rathi, who conceded the semi-final, is from Uttar Pradesh. So they weren’t even from the same team or state.
Then why not fight and let the best man win?
Why reduce the National Wrestling Championship to a joke? It’s no fun for the viewers, it’s no incentive for the juniors, and it hardly does any good to the champion himself.
Sushil Kumar is 34-years-old. At the most, he's got just a few years of competitive wrestling left in him. What after that? What happens when he retires? What if the Sushil Kumars of the future are waiting in the wings, but conceding their matches out of respect?
Take for example Bajrang Punia, long considered to be one of India’s most promising young wrestlers. For the longest time, he competed in a weight category lower than what he preferred so as to not compete against his mentor Yogeshwar Dutt.
This is a young wrestler who spent years in the shadows, just so his mentor had a better shot at winning.
But hang on, if Yogeshwar deserved to win a tournament, he should do so by being better than Bajrang, right? Not by Bajrang exiting the field.
And dear pehelwans, if you don’t agree with me, why don’t you listen to two of your own? This is what the only two men who actually fought Sushil Kumar in the Nationals, told ESPN.
This is the world of sport. You’re meant to compete, not surrender. Whether or not the man you’re up against is your guru, your mentor or your senior.
And if a sporting tradition hurts the game more than helps it, it must go.
Cameraperson: Abhay Sharma
Video Editor: Mohd Ibrahim
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