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Journalism of Courage
Standing on the podium,his head high with the national anthem playing in the background,it was a perfect return to the Commonwealth Wrestling Championships for Sushil Kumar. Having fetched gold in the last three editions,Sushil won his final bout against Olympian Heinrich Barnes of South Africa in the 66 kg freestyle category in Jalandhar on Sunday to extend that run.
Its good to know that I have never lost any bout in the championships in the last four editions. That gives me immense satisfaction, the Beijing Olympics bronze medallist said.
Spearheading the Indian contingent in the competition,Sushil had shrugged off some of the pressure of that after winning his early. Those first wins gave me confidence. For the final,since I had never played Heinrich before,my coach and I sat and reviewed his videos and planned our tactics. He has a good counter-attack and my coach had warned me to guard against that, the 26-year-old said.
Sushil had claimed the first round 6-0 before the second was given to him by default. It was just my day, Sushil said.
The win means that he ends the year on a high. The victory at the German Grand Pix was important as I was returning to a major championship after the Beijing Olympics there. Now this gold will help me go into the new year with a lot of confidence, he said.
India won all the seven gold medals in the mens freestyle competition and three silver and four bronze medals in other weight categories. They also bagged gold in the freestyle team event.
