FATHER INSPIRED ME TO WORK HARD AND WIN MEDALS FOR INDIA, SAYS RAVI DAHIYA

It is generally seen that in contact sports, the player becomes aggressive, or to say that he seeks revenge when the opponent acts against the spirit of the game, but Ravi Dahiya is completely different. The Kazakhstan wrestler bites Ravi’s arm before getting out of hand so that he can save himself with great difficulty, but to this Dahiya says that ‘he is a good friend’. “Like me, he also came there with the intention of winning. This happens at every big event and I have no regrets about it,” Dahiya said.

Ravi secured an Olympic quota by winning a silver in the World Under 23, a bronze medal in the World Championship two years ago, won the Asian Championship gold twice in a row and now an Olympic Silver in the 57 FS category of wrestling. He defeated a Colombian and a Bulgarian wrestler by technical superiority.

“I had a good practice. I was sure that taking the first points would make the road ahead of the bout easier. At one point I went trailed against a Kazakhstan wrestler, but after that I pinned him down,” said Dahiya

Was there pressure against the Russian wrestler in the final as this wrestler defeated Ravi in the semi-finals of the World Championship in 2019? To this Ravi said, “No, he is also a player. He also came with the aim of winning like me. His training was better than me which made him better against me.”

Apart from this, due to an injury in 2015, his next two-three years were badly affected, but after recovering completely from the injury, Ravi did not look back and now he wants to change the color of his Olympic medal in Paris. But before that, winning medals in this year’s World Championship and next year’s Asian Games and Commonwealth Games is her biggest aim.

Appreciating the experience gained from PWL, Ravi said that getting maximum exposure is what determines where one stands.

“PWL helped us take stock of our preparedness and our current situation,” he said.

Apart from this, he also gives a lot of credit to his family.

“My father used to come many times from Nahari village of Sonipat to Chhatrasal Stadium to see my training. He had only one dream that I should illuminate the name of the country,” he said.