Silver lining for Dahiya

Gracious in defeat young Indian wrestler Ravi Kumar Dahiya on Thursday said perhaps he deserved only a silver medal at the Olympics at this stage and will strive to get better to complete the unfinished task of winning a gold at the 2024 Paris GamesDahiya 23 competing in his maiden Games settled for a silver after losing 47 to reigning world champion Zavur Uguev of Russian Olympic Committee in the freestyle 57kg title clashRavi with his silver medal PicsAFPNo satisfactionThe wrestler said a silver medal will never give him satisfaction even though his performance would mean a lot for Indian wrestling ldquoI did not come to Tokyo for a silver medal It will not give me satisfaction Maybe this time I deserved only a silver because Uguev was a better wrestler todayrdquo Dahiya said ldquoI could not achieve what I wanted tordquo he said disappointment palpable in his voiceUguevrsquos solid defenceDahiya tried every trick to breach the defence of Uguev but the Russian wrestler stayed solid in his defence never allowing the Indian to launch his famously relentless attacks ldquoHis style was very good I just could not find a way to play my game I donrsquot know what I could have done He wrestled very smartlyrdquo the twotime reigning Asian champion saidHis coach Mahabali Satpal said Dahiya was fighting from the front and the coaches in Tokyo should have advised him to wrestle from the sides ldquoThe coaches Jagmander Singh there should have told him to change the strategy The Russian was beatable Ravi is a better wrestler than him itrsquos a golden chance that has been missed for a historic goldrdquo rued Satpal who has coached Dahiya since he was 12When told that his silverwinning effort also means a lot to Indian wrestling Dahiya did not seem excited ldquoThat is ok but I canrsquot sit on a silver I have to stay focussed and work on my technique and get ready for next Olympics Gamesrdquo he said His father Rakesh and his family have made a lot of sacrifices to get him to this stageRakesh still works on leased fields to run the household A windfall awaits as Haryana government has announced a R4 crore cash award for him Dahiya said he was not thinking about money as all he is concerned about is winning an Olympic goldHis village Nahri had been waiting for an Olympic medal hoping that it will change the destiny of its habitants ldquoYes my village has given three Olympians so it deserves basic facilities It needs everything Everything is important good schools as well as sports facilitiesrdquo he saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever