Hardeep becomes world champion in 110kg category in U-17 Greco Roman wrestling
The 16-year-old won the heaviest weight class Greco Roman gold medal for India at the under-17 level. Vinod Kumar (45kg, 1980), Pappu Yadav (51kg, 1992) and Suraj (55kg, 2022) were the previous champions.
'I am very happy to have achieved this,' a shy Hardeep told Sportstar.
Hardeep, the reigning Asian under-17 champion, defeated Kazakhstan's Baktur Sovetkhan 2-0, Poland's Mateusz Tomelka 4-2, Ukraine's Anatolii Novachenko 9-0 and Turkey's Emrullah Capkan 4-2 to reach the final. He rallied to beat Iranian Yazdan Reza Delrouz 3-3 via criteria in the summit clash to secure the lone Greco Roman medal of the event for India.
'Even though he trains in freestyle and Greco Roman, Hardeep's heavy upper body helps him in Greco Roman. One who never gives up, he fought some tough bouts. The final one was the toughest. He has a bright future,' said national team coach Ajay Singh.
ALSO READ | Late bloomer Sujeet Kalkal emerges as India's next wrestling hope
Hardeep, who lost his parents at an early age, kept up his family tradition to take to wrestling and honed his skills under coach Dharmender Dalal at the Hind Kesari Sonu Akhada in Bahadurgarh.
'Without any sponsorship, we try our best to support him so that he can make the country proud,' said Hardeep's uncle Jasveer.
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