Maiden national gold for Jaideep after twin heartbreaks at Olympic qualifiers
CHENNAI: Jaideep suffered twin heartbreaks early this year as he lost narrowly in the Asian and World Olympic qualifiers thus failing to book a ticket for the Paris Games. A petty officer with the Indian Navy, it was his dream to represent and win a medal for the country in the Olympics like any other athletes.
Having won a bronze medal at the U20 World Championship and a silver medal at the U20 Asian Championship in 2023, Jaideep was expected to book an Olympic quota for the country in the 74kg but it was not to be.
Luckily the setbacks didn't bother the Haryana wrestler for a long period as he won silver at the U23 Asian Championship in June and followed it up with a gold medal at the World Military Championship last month.
On Friday, he added yet another medal to his tally as he clinched his maiden gold on the opening day of the Senior National Championship in Bengaluru.
Haryana won the first position in the men's freestyle category with 190 points followed by Services Sports Control Board (SSCB 179) and Delhi (143). "Jaideep could be termed unlucky as he lost narrowly in the Olympic Qualifiers but he is still young and can do it for the 2028 Games," head coach of the SSCB Kuldeep Singh told this daily.
The head coach believed the SSCB could have clinched the championship but its proximity with the World Military Championship had impacted wrestlers' show in the ongoing nationals.
"The event in Armenia held a few days back. Our wrestlers competed there and won medals as well. They had to reduce weight there and immediately have to repeat the process here in Bengaluru which affected their performances. We will try to do better in the men's Greco-Roman championship starting tomorrow (Saturday)," added the coach.
Notably, the SSCB decided to compete in the event despite other board, the Railway Sports Promotion Board (RSPB), skipping the meet saying organiser Wrestling Federation of India has been suspended by the sports ministry.
Apart from Jaideep, Pankaj won a gold medal for the SSCB in 61kg and Dinesh topped in the 125kg. Similarly, Mohit Kumar (65kg) and Sharvan (70kg) won a silver medal each for the SSCB in their respective weight categories. Rahul of Delhi won 57kg gold with the Paris Olympic bronze medallist Aman Sehrawat, an employee of the Indian Railways, skipping the tournament.
In 65kg, Sidhharth of Haryana won gold while in 86kg Mukul Dahiya of Delhi clinched the top spot beating favourite Sandeep Singh, who despite being from RSPB decided to contest for Punjab in the championship.
On Saturday, bouts across all 10 weight categories of Greco Roman style and two weight categories of women's wrestling (50kg & 72kg) will be conducted. Sunday, the final day, will witness bouts in remaining weight categories of women's wrestling. The WFI will also hold its annual general meeting on the last day.
Gold medallists (Men's FS): 57kg: Rahul (DEL), 61kg: Pankaj (SSCB), 65kg: Sidhharth (HAR), 70kg: Anuj Kumar (HAR), 74kg: Jaideep (SSCB), 79kg: Amit (HAR), 86kg: Mukul Dahiya (DEL), 92kg: Sachin (HAR), 97kg: Sahil (PUB), 125kg: Dinesh (SSCB).
