India's Hope In Wrestling 74kg Category After Sushil Kumar: Three Prospects In Build Up To Paris Olympics

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For the past half a decade, men's freestyle wrestling has been buzzing with excitement, especially in the 57 Kg and 65 Kg weight categories. These weight divisions have consistently grabbed attention and become the talk of the town.

In the 57 Kg category, all eyes are on Ravi Kumar Dahiya, who won a silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics, and Aman Sehrawat, a medalist at the Asian Games. They're gearing up for a fierce competition to secure their spots in the Paris Olympics.

Meanwhile, in the 65 Kg category, we have Bajrang Punia, a four-time World medalist, leading the pack. Alongside him are Sujeet Kalkal and Vishal Kaliraman, promising talents ready to make their mark on the world stage. They're all vying for the chance to represent their country at the Paris Olympics, making this category one to watch.

But the excitement doesn't stop there. The 74 Kg division has also seen the arrival of a strong competitors, adding even more intrigue to the mix. Untill few years ago, wrestler Sushil Kumar competed in the 74 Kg category and won two gold medals at the Commonwealth Games. Sushil preferred the 66 Kg category, where he won two Olympic medals. However 2013 onwards, he switched to the 74 Kg category to qualify for the Rio Olympics.

Since Sushil, currently in Delhi's Tihar Jail facing accusations of murdering junior wrestler Sagar Dhankar, left the scene, there's been a void in the 74 Kg category that no one has filled. The situation worsened during the Tokyo Olympics when India had no wrestler in the 74 Kg class.

Narsingh Yadav, who once competed in this weight category and secured medals in prestigious competitions like the World Championships and Asian Games, is also ageing. Now, with both Sushil and Narsingh Yadav's era coming to an end, the question remains: who will step up as the new face of 74 Kg in India?

The answer could be the three upcoming wrestlers, who are emerging as rising stars in this category -- namely Naveen Malik, Yash Tushir, and Sagar Jaglan. Naveen Malik recently clinched the gold medal at the Senior National Wrestling Championship in Jaipur, where he narrowly defeated Yash in a closely contested final.

Last year, Yash secured victory over Naveen Malik in the Asian Games Trials, earning his ticket to Hangzhou. In the Asian Games 2022, Yash was knocked out in the quarterfinals by a Tajikistan wrestler, but he showed what he is capable of.

Meanwhile, Sagar Jaglan represented India at the World Championship 2022 in the 74 kg category. Since then, he has shifted his focus to the 79 kg (a non-Olympic category), winning a gold medal in that weight class at the Senior National Wrestling Championship but now he wants return to the 74 Kg because he aims to qualify for Paris.

Naveen Malik won a gold medal in the Commonwealth Games 2022, and last year, he won the bronze medal in the U-23 World Championship. The 21-year-old spoke exclusively with myKhel about competing in the 74 kg category.

"The 74 kg category is very tough, and Sushil Kumar has also competed in this category. I'm facing tough competition in this weight class," Naveen said in Jaipur.

Naveen also spoke about his final against Yash in the National Wrestling championship "Yash had defeated me last year in the Asian Games trials but this time I had more confidence than last year, we had a very close match. I was injured during the last year's Trials and when we lost to someone, we had to work very hard to get back to it."

Naveen, Yash, and Sagar - all possess potentials, but can they fill the gap? Who will emerge as the number one contender in the Paris Olympics trials? Is there a chance for any of them to represent in the 74 Kg category at the Paris Olympics? The answers to these questions will undoubtedly unfold, but for now, patience is our ally.