NEW DELHI, July 20: A great feat achieved by a 15-year-old student from Delhi - Sushil Kumar - at the 12th World Cadet Wrestling Championships at Manchester (England) went almost unnoticed. Because, the championship (July 1-5) coincided with the biggest event of the year, the soccer World Cup championships in France, which even overshadowed the Wimbledon tennis championships and the rain-affected Singer Nidahas Trophy in Sri Lanka.Sushil Kumar, a student of Government Boys Senior Secondary School, Tulsi Nagar, and a trainee at the Chhattarsal Stadium for the last two years, won a gold medal in the 45-kg category to keep the country's aspirations high in the international arena. He was the lone medal winner out of the eight representatives from India at the Manchester meet. Narender Singh finished ninth in the 69-kg category.Sushil's achievement is all the more praiseworthy because of the big stars he defeated on his way to the gold. In the final, he defeated the two-time champion and the title holder from Poland. ``He showed no nervousness against his formidable rival and maintained his cool throughout,'' says one of his coaches at the Chhattarsal Stadium, Yashbir Singh. Besides Satpal, who is the deputy director at the stadium, Ram Phal and Pradeep Kumar are his other coaches.In the first round at Manchester, Sushil beat his opponent from USA by 10-0 points verdict and won against a Romanian by fall in the next round. In the semifinal, the Indian eliminated his opponent from Hungary 11-0 (technical spirit). ``It was a great victory and a morale-booster before the finals,'' said his coach.Sushil Kumar had shown his talent earlier by winning the gold medal at the National School Games in Delhi and at the All-India Rural Wrestling Championships in Faridabad. Son of a Delhi Telecom vehicle driver, Sushil Kumar emulated the feat of another Chhattarsal trainee, Anil Kumar Mann who had won the 83-kg category gold medal at the 11th World Cadet Championships, held in New Delhi last year. The success at Manchester has not come to Sushil Kumar without any hardwork. He sweats for about four hours everyday at the training ground. ``I feel proud to have won the medal for the country,'' is all he says with a smile when asked about his reactions.The Chief Minister of Delhi, Sahib Singh Verma, has promised a cheque of Rs one lakh to the talented wrestler. It will be handed over to him at a special function on August 15. Almost the entire Baprola village on the Najafgarh-Nangloi Road turned out to cheer their hero with a grand reception on Sunday.``We were confident that Sushil would do well in other tournaments also,'' Satpal said. ``Our ultimate aim is to win a medal at the Olympics. We are striving towards that goal,'' he added.
