Narsingh Yadav is a class act. The burly 74kg category wrestler won a grudge fight against an old foe to lead his team Bengaluru Yodhas to an emphatic win over Mongolia’s Purejav Unurbut in a high octane Pro Wrestling League match at the KD Jhadav Stadium on Friday. Following his sterling show the World Championships bronze medal winner spoke to Sunday Guardian about his career ahead and the advantages of participating in a league like the PWL.
Narsingh was elated that he was able to convincingly defeat Purejav’ in a one sided contest felt that the home conditions helped him. “I feel that when one is playing home, the conditions do help. For instance one of the biggest factors is the crowd support. On Friday it was the crowd support that helped me beat him (Purajev). I feel the crowd brought the best out of me,” said Narsingh.
When asked the reasons why he lost to Purejav in the World Championships in Las Vegas just a few months back, Narsingh said that it was a close bout “I can tell you that the last time we met in Vegas, I was a bit tentative at crucial junctures and went on the defensive. This time around I was able to attack him more and my aggression paid off,” said Narsingh.
Narisingh also felt that competing in the PWL was a great morale booster. “Look some of the world’s best wrestlers are competing in the PWL. The competition here is as good as that of a premier event like the World Championships. And when you consider the fact that the PWL is the richest wrestling league in the world I feel that there should be more leagues like this in other parts of the world. After all wrestling is an Olympic sport and we wrestlers are a very hard working lot,” he said.
Narsingh also felt that the PWL would be a shot in the arm for the young Indian wrestlers. “I think the PWL is going to benefit the young Indian wrestlers the most. For these youngsters get a chance to pit their skills against the very best in the world—something which happens rarely at home. So these young wrestlers should be grabbing the chance to play for their respective franchises with both hands,” he said.
Another advantage which Narsingh felt would aid the youngsters in the PWL was the fact that they would get to see the training and conditioning methods of the seniors. “Let me tell you that another fact which will immensely help the young Indian wrestlers is that they will get to share the dressing room with some of the best in the business. In this way the young Indian brigade will get to see first hand and also imbibe the training methods and pre match preparation of these established wrestlers. So I feel there is a lot of learning for these youngsters,” he said.
With regards to becoming the first wrestler to qualify for the Rio Olympics, Narsingh said winning an Olympic medal was his cherished dream. “I have been dreaming of winning an Olympic medal for quite sometime now. It is the pinnacle of the international competition. Now that I have won a medal in the World Championships, I am raring to win a medal at Rio. I am working very hard for it and pray to God that I succeed in my endeavour,” Narsingh said.
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