Who Should Go To Rio?
Sportstar|June 4, 2016

Who should board the flight to Rio? Two-time Olympic medallist and former World champion Sushil Kumar or Olympic quota place winner and current Asia and World championship medallist Narsingh Yadav? This is the biggest riddle in the Indian sports circles at present.

Y. B. Sarangi
Who Should Go To Rio?

For the kind of attention it has received over the last fortnight or so, the Sushil Kumar-Narsingh Yadav dispute to represent the country in the men’s freestyle 74 kg wrestling in the Rio Olympics can now be counted among India’s all-time notorious Olympic tales.

We are going to remember this episode just as we recall forgettable moments like Gurbux Singh and Prithipal Singh being named joint captains of the Indian hockey team for the 1960 Rome Olympics or Kaka Pawar and Pappu Yadav vying for a 48 kg Greco Roman wild card spot for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

With the proliferation of hyperactive social media platforms backed by the omnipresent internet, the Sushil-Narsingh duel off the mat has outdone all other contests of a similar nature.

SO, WHO SHOULD BOARD THE FLIGHT TO RIO? Two-time Olympic medallist and former World champion Sushil or Olympic quota place winner and current Asia and World championship medallist Narsingh?

This is the biggest riddle in the Indian sports circles at present and with Sushil moving the Delhi High Court with a request to conduct a trial between him and Narsingh the matter is destined to be settled with the fall of a gavel.

While dissecting the issue, let’s take a look at where the two wrestlers stand at present.

Sushil won a bronze medal and a silver in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2012 London Olympics respectively besides clinching the 2010 World championship title in 66 kg. With the United World Wrestling dropping 66 kg while shuffling weight divisions, Sushil had no choice but to move up to 74 kg for multidisciplinary games.

AFTER SWITCHING TO THE NEW WEIGHT, the legendary wrestler has rarely taken part in competitive wrestling since the last Olympics due to a recurring shoulder injury. The only exception was the 2014 Commonwealth Games where he won a gold medal.

This story is from the June 4, 2016 edition of Sportstar.

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This story is from the June 4, 2016 edition of Sportstar.

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