Dahiya, the silent winner
New Delhi, Aug. 4: The quiet storm. The sobriquet would fit the bill to a tee if one is asked to describe Ravi Dahiya in one or two words.
He does not show emotions, sometimes making one doubt if he has any at all.
On Wednesday, he became Indian wrestling’s new poster boy by reaching the Olympic final and his first reaction was, “Haan, theek hi hai bhaisahab” (Yes, it has happened, it’s just okay).
Ravi is someone who always appears indifferent. No air or the flamboyance of dominant athletes in contact sports.
If he wins, he does not jump with joy. At best, he smiles.
If he loses, he goes quieter. That’s Ravi Dahiya for you.
But the moment he is on a wrestling mat, he begins to expresses himself in the best possible manner. He becomes a different beast.
His long arms, immense strength and stamina along with the technical prowess makes him a formidable opponent. It’s difficult to breach his defence and stop him from making his moves.
And this is because nothing interests him except wrestling.
He rose to prominence only when he qualified for the Tokyo Games with a bronze medal winning effort at the 2019 World Championship in Nur Sultan.
Even when he had qualified for the Games, he was not happy. He was thinking about his lost semifinal bout to Russian Zavur Uguev, who went on to win the title.
He had won a silver at the Under-23 World Championships in 2015 to give a glimpse of what was to expect from him.
If anyone doubted his potential, he showed his mettle at the Pro Wrestling League when he beat U-23 European champion and also Sandeep Tomar, who literally owned the 57kg category before Dahiya’s rise. There were a few who were still not willing to believe in him, saying PWL was not a platform to judge him.
He silenced them all in
2019 at the Worlds, and has only grown in stature since. He won the Asian Championship in Delhi in
2020 and defended the title this year in Almaty.
He competed at Poland Open and lost only one bout. The World Cup in Serbia was an abberation.
Dahiya is a product of the national capital’s Chhatrasal Stadium, which has already given India two Olympic medallists — Sushil Kumar and Yogeshwar Dutt.