Far from the hype that surrounds India’s wealthy professional cricketers, a group of young men learn to wrestle in mud pits, hoping their skills may one day lead to fame and glory.
Wearing only a langot, or loin cloth, the boys — some as young as 12 — pump weights before entering the pit to learn the nuances of wrestling, one of India’s traditional rural pastimes.
Enduring Spartan training and living conditions, the boys are determined to escape forever the poverty of their home villages and make it big on the world stage.
PHOTO: AFP
Akharas, as the mud pits are called in Hindi, are a key part of India’s efforts to succeed at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi in October.
Over the years the akharas have produced India’s finest wrestling talent, including Sushil Kumar, who won a bronze medal at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.
In the 1990s, the Wrestling Federation of India tried to ban akharas on the grounds that young men found it difficult to adjust from mud pits to the mats used for international competitions.
But Kumar says he owes his success to a youth spent in akharas.
“They shaped both my body and my thinking,” Kumar, 26, said. “If you want to learn wrestling, learn it the traditional Indian away. There is nothing like it.”
The most famous wrestling school in India is Guru Hanuman’s Akhara, located off a bustling by-lane in old Delhi and named after a legendary trainer who died in a car accident in 1999 at the age of 98.
A dilapidated door separating the akhara from the outside world opens onto a courtyard littered with unwashed utensils and gas stoves.
In the center is the sand and mud pit where boys train under the watchful eyes of chief coach Maha Singh Rao.
Some 125 trainees, many of whom live on the premises, follow Rao’s strict regime, which begins before dawn with a long run on roads outside the akhara, followed by exercises and weight training.
They train for three hours after breakfast before taking time off to cook their own food and rest ahead of another strenuous session in the pits in the evening.
Meals are vegetarian, cooked in ghee — rich clarified butter — with a generous helping of nuts and dried fruits, washed down with fruit juice and milk.
“The key to making a good wrestler is speed, technique, strength and stamina,” Rao said. “But it’s not all about strength. You also need to use your brains.”
Some wrestlers, like Kumar, go on to attain international glory. Others with similar talents struggle due to a lack of financial support and poor development programs.
Rao said despite their successes, wrestlers frequently don’t get the credit they deserve.
“The media and sponsors have time and money only for cricket,” he said. “Boys come to the akhara to do well in the sport, so that it can get them a career and jobs. Some are fortunate enough to make a name for themselves.”
Kumar’s bronze at Beijing was India’s first Olympic wrestling medal since Khashaba Jadhav’s third place at the 1952 Melbourne Games.
Wrestling did not feature in the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, but India won three golds and three silvers in the seven events contested in Manchester four years earlier.
Many of Rao’s pupils hope to take part at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi, and the trainer believes India can claim the majority of the 14 gold medals on offer for men.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB