ALL EYES ON SUSHIL AS WRESTLING BEGINS TODAY

Gold Coast, April 11: Defending champion and double Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar ( 74kg) will be in action as India’s formidable wrestling team open their campaign here on Thursday.

India claimed 13 medals ( five gold, six silver and two bronze) at the 2014 CWG in Glasgow, just one shy of top finishers Canada, and will be hoping to better that mark.

In all, 103 wrestlers from 23 countries will be competing for top honours over the next three days at the Carrara Sports and Leisure Centre, the same venue where Indian weightlifters bagged a rich haul of medals at the event.

“Everybody expects us to win gold medals in a heap and I can assure you that, this is exactly what is going to happen,” India coach Kuldeep Singh said on Wednesday.

“It will be the same this time but obviously, we are expecting our performance would be better than Glasgow, perhaps the best ever in the Games.”

Sushil’s build- up to the Games has been far from ideal as he found himself dragged into a selection controversy, when his supporters and those of his rival Parveen Rana came to blows during trials.

India have been a dominant force in wrestling at the Commonwealth level with Canada expected to be their real challengers in the men’s section and Nigeria in the women’s draw.

Apart from Sushil, Rahul Aware ( 57kg), a former gold medallist at the Commonwealth championships, will also be in action on Thursday.

In the women’s section, taking to the ring would be one of the two Phogat sisters, Babita, the defending champion in the 53kg category. ongoing