Uthra Ganesan on a Haryana sports centre where India’s wrestlers train for Rio Olympics
One day in the high end sports centre in Sonepat, Haryana, where India’s wrestlers are training intensely to make the country’s hopes for Olympic gold come true
It 6:30 in the morning and, barring the huge, guarded gates at the entrance, there is little to indicate that the well maintained lawns and open exercise facilities belong to anything other than an exclusive gated community. With one difference all pathways converge on one huge wrestling hall, its floors covered with 8 10 mats laid out like carpeting. Dozens of life size posters of Olympic medallists decorate the walls. The two Olympic medallists took a sport deep rooted in the collective narrative of the countryside and turned it into a possible ticket to international acclaim.
It a place that Dutt owns today, Asics Gt2000 and which Kumar owned till a few months ago. Kumar is not a part of the national team but remains omnipresent, looking down from the posters, his name on the plaque, and with the huge gardens across the building named after him.
Today, though, Dutt is king. He is accompanied by Bajrang Punia, the man he is grooming as his successor.
They are followed by Narsingh Pancham Yadav, possibly the next most recognised name in Indian wrestling today. The rest training here, including the three others who will be on the plane to Rio Sandeep Tomar (57 kg freestyle), Hardeep Singh (98 kg Graeco Roman) and Ravinder Khatri (85 kg Graeco Roman) have already been at it for a while now, limbering up and getting ready for two hours of sweat and pain.
If your general perception of wrestlers is of bulky slabs of muscle and fat strutting robotically, you will get a mild shock when you watch these men during warm ups. They do head rotations (to strengthen the neck muscles) like contortionists. Cartwheels, front flips, hand stands, they are all performed to perfection.
Dutt entry is inconspicuous but the air inside the hall changes just a little. He stops first in front of a small idol of Hanuman, and next, near the weighing machine in the other end of the room. It is only after this that he acknowledges people. Someone from his entourage whips out training shoes; someone else, the knee guards; he is taped up. Now, he is ready to roll. Two hours of intense practice and a couple of sparring bouts with Punia leaves both of them winded.
There are at least 50 wrestlers in the hall, practising both freestyle and Graeco Roman. They grapple under the watchful eyes of the coaches. Yet, somehow, Dutt and Punia manage to be the centre of gravity. In another corner, Narsingh Yadav is concentration personified, easily overwhelming Pawan, his partner for Asics Gtcool Xprees 202 the day from a higher weight category.
qualified wrestler generally has two sparring partners, one from a similar weight category and another from a higher category to ensure they don struggle against a heavier opponent, explains chief coach Jagminder Singh. Yadav explains how in a recent training camp in Bulgaria, the grapplers often took on two or three opponents simultaneously. were juniors but when you are up against three wrestlers, it takes a lot to come out winner, he says.
The 26 year old Yadav appears calm and focussed. The recent contentious court battle for a Rio spot against Kumar has not affected his physical practice, he says, but admits that the mind is not so easily trained. mein to tension rehti hi hain, isliye bhi Bulgaria jaana better tha mind distract nahi hota tha, he says. (The mind was tense; Bulgaria helped to distract me.)
The gunman he was given for security is nowhere to be seen, but this only seems to make the wrestler more relaxed. Slowly, the buzz around Kumar and the case is wearing off as the date for the Olympics draws near. The coaches and wrestlers realise that the immediate future is about the men training now. The hall is air conditioned but by the time the wrestlers are done sparring Under Armour Fat Tire3 the eagle eyes of Georgian coach Vladmir Mestvirishvili, the wrestling mats are drenched with sweat and the cleaner is running around wiping them dry. Mestvirishvili has been with them since 2003; he knows each wrestler training and wrestling style. Dutt likes to attack and dominate; Yadav prefers counter attack and uses his upper body strength. Mestvirishvili understands their needs despite the language gap.
Sparring ends, but the training is not over yet. Some wrestlers head to the gym for a session of workouts. Khatri and Hardeep, the Graeco Roman men who tend to get overshadowed by the freestyle stars, head to the ropes at the other end of the hall. They shimmy up and down expertly, watched by their coach Kuldeep Singh. helps develop strong forearms and shoulders, he explains.
From the wrestling hall, it is a short walk to the dining hall and the hostel, a 20 bed one for the senior Asics Gelquantum 366 Cm sportsmen and a 100 bed one for the others. Those who have qualified for Rio, however, prefer having their meals in their rooms.
Dutt has Type IV accommodation, befitting his stature, a full, two bedroom house with lobby and kitchen. He heads off for some rest accompanied by personal trainer Mobya Duyu. Yadav makes his way to the fitness centre for a body composition analysis to check the fat content in his body.
The SAI nutritionist has prepared individual diet charts for all five wrestlers, except Yadav and Dutt, who have special diets. best thing about these boys is that they are all becoming a lot more aware of the latest technology available and they are using it to perfection. They are interested in the VO2 Max test (for cardio respiratory endurance), they keep track of their own weight and muscle ratio, they have asked for the hypoxic chamber to be opened at the earliest. We have been able to provide all these facilities here, says Radhica Sreeman, regional director of the centre. Its facilities and the sheer size of its campus make the SAI centre one of the most self sufficient sports campuses in India today. Sreeman has also succeeded in getting a swimming pool on campus. Next on her agenda are a cryosauna and Moorish sauna, to help with the wrestlers recovery.
Dutt is on what Duyu calls a ketogenic diet only proteins and fats and no carbohydrates. Those ripping muscles, Dayu points out, have been built in the last one month on paneer, broccoli, capsicum and cheese. Dutt daily diet would typically be 500 gm of paneer, 50 gm each of broccoli and capsicum, and a slab of cheese. Milk and curd are restricted to 50 gm each, and only taken diluted. But desi ghee, that legendary staple of the pehalwan, is allowed.
When Duyu lists this rather limited diet, Dutt smiles, to mar jata hai jeebh ka Olympics ka soch ke hi sab karte hain. (Our taste buds are dead, but the thought of Olympic victory pushes us.)
Dutt room is bare, except for huge photographs of his medal winning performance at London 2012. There one other picture: of Punia in the 2013 World Championship. The close guru shishya bond the two share is evident. it was the pressure of not knowing what to expect at the Olympics; now it the pressure of knowing just what the entire nation expects from you, he says.
For Tomar, the youngest, this is his first Olympics and he is predictably excited about the big stage. toh sabka sapna hota hain (it a dream); I am keen to prove I belong, he says. Yadav is older, wiser, hungrier. happened at the last Olympics was unfortunate, but I want to prove I deserve to be there; get a medal from Rio, he says.
After lunch, which is more a brunch, the wrestlers sleep it off, only to regroup for salomon south africa facebook the same routine in the evening. On an average, wrestlers lose one or two kilos every session, only to make up for it through diet and rest. The SAI centre is their world. Dutt has barred incoming calls on his phone, and his family has strict instructions not to visit. saal se yahi kar rahe hain, ab to unko bhi aadat ho gayi hain, hame bhi. (I been wrestling for 10 15 years now; my family is used to this and Asics Gelquantum 362 Cm so am I.)Yadav talks to his coach Jagmal Singh, but that largely it.
not all work. Sunday is complete rest. On Saturdays, the boys get a sauna session in the evenings and a cross country run in the morning, says coach Jagminder.
A cross country run does not sound at all restful but with just over a month to go for Rio (56 days for me, Dutt says quickly), the wrestlers, India chief gold hopes, are not complaining. Sonepat is a world away from the sights and sounds of Rio, but all the work and dreams here are fuelled by the hopes of a medal there.