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May 19, 2010

Mera ek hi interest hai: KUSHTI

PIYALI DASGUPTA Times of India

Sushil Kumar
Sushil Kumar
Olympic bronze medallist wrestler Sushil Kumar is overjoyed with the gold he bagged at the Senior Asian Wrestling Championship held in the capital recently.

On winning the title, Sushil says, “ I’m very happy to have won this. It was a tough game but I put in a lot of hard work and it paid off. Bahut achha laga gold medal gale mein tange hue dekh kar. Ab koshish karunga ki isi tarah main gold medal Commonwealth Games and Asian games mein bhi jeetun.”

So, the wrestler is now busy preparing for the other two sporting events - the Commonwealth Games and the Guangzhou Asian Games - later this year. He says, “Last year, I was not allowed to play at the Asian Championships in Pattaya (Thailand) by the union sports ministry because of weight issues. Bahut dukh hua ki main participate nahi kar saka. Lekin, abhi yeh medal jeet kar mujhe lag raha hai ki kuchh paane ke liye kuchh khona bhi padta hai. I have lost a lot of weight and have become much fitter. I have been practicing regularly, concentrating on my daily exercise and keeping a watch on my diet too. All this has really helped me a lot to get back to the game again.”

As our cameraman got busy clicking his pics, we asked Sushil about his other interests. “ Bas, mera koi aur interest nahi hai, main sirf kushti ladta hoon,” smiled Sushil. And when we asked him if he had a girlfriend and if there were marriage plans in the offing, Sushil suddenly became serious and looked at his coach. He then said, “Nahi nahi ... koi nahi hai, aur shaadi karne ka abhi koi plan nahi hai.”

So, then, does he watch Hindi movies, we probed. “Maine kabhi Bollywood movie nahi dekhi hai. Sach yeh hai ki main movies ke baare main kuchh nahi jaanta. Aap mujhse sports ke logon ke baare main puchhe, toh main bata sakta hoon.”

The wrestler, who is also a big fan of cricketer Virender Sehwag said, told us, “Virender Sehwag bhi Najafgarh ke hain, aur mere bahut achhe dost bhi. As a sportsman, it is only natural that I watch all kinds of sports. But, cricket and football are my favourite games. I have watched Viru playing cricket. I was also invited by him to watch his game during the Indian
Premier League series, but couldn’t make it, as I was busy with my practice for the Asian Wrestling Championship at that time.”

So, what is the real Sushil about - the one who is not in the public glare? “Main zameen se juda hua aadmi hoon. Hanumanji ka bhakt hoon, aur saaf dil ka hun,” he says, signing off.

2 comments:

arun said...

Nice Interview. I think right now Mr. Sushil Kumar should be allowed to concentratr on his kishti he can have girl friends or go for mariage if he desires at appropriate time.

arun said...

It would be useful to give an interview of Sushil Kumar giving details of his practice, spritual life and diet etc so that it is useful to others.