Satyawart Kadian beats Mausam Khatri, crowd fear to bag gold

Losses to the same opponent – Mausam Khatri – started to affect Satyawart’s mindset during the bout. (Source: Facebook)

Just four months back, Mausam Khatri and Satyawart Kadian were preparing for their contest against each other at the same arena during the National Trials for the 2015 World Championships. In front of a packed KD Jadhav stadium, Satyawart failed to cope up to the pressure and lost the bout. On the other hand, Mausam booked a spot for the Las Vegas Championships.

On Wednesday, the two wrestlers were up against each other, at the same venue. While Mausam was the favourite, no one gave Satyawart a chance. Quiet understandable as the former has defeated the Railways wrestler in their last four face-offs, the latest being the 5-0 victory during the Pro Wrestling League just two weeks ago.

“Mausam ne bahut mehnat ki hai pichle ek saal mein. He will win,” said Mahabir Phogat, India’s chief coach for Greco-Roman and a Dronacharya-awardee.

Just before the bout, every wrestler, coach and official gathered around the centre mat to watch India’s top two wrestlers in the category in action. But it didn’t begin for five minutes. It took the police forces more than ten minutes to remove the spectators away from the mats. But when the bout finally began, the 300-odd spectators once again surrounded the mat.

The first period was a dull affair and Satyawart led by two points due to Masuam’s passive play. “They both have a habit of being passive. No one attacks till the last minute.,” said Ashok Kumar, a coach from Air Force.

But as the second period began, Satywart quickly attacked Mausam and grabbed two points through a takedown. 20 seconds later, he opened up a 6-0 lead with another takedown. Satywart maintained that lead till the end to claim the gold medal.

Son of Satyawan, a former Olympian, the Railways wrestler was 10-year-old when he used to accompany his father to dangals and learn the sport. He broke into the national scene after a bronze-winning performance in the 100 kg category at the first-ever Youth Olympics held in Singapore in 2010. In August 2013, he won a bronze in the 96 kg division at the World Junior Wrestling Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria. At the 2014 CWG, Satyawart won a silver medal in the 97 kg category.

“With these achievements came the burden of expectations and that is when it went wrong for me. I could not bear the pressure of performing every time I step onto the mat,” explained Satyawart. “The negative comments made me lose my confidence,” added the wrestler.

“At the National trials, it was for the first time I saw such a huge crowd. I could not perform under the pressure of playing against so many people,” said Satyawart.

And it was after this bout that people began to write-off the Junior Worlds bronze medallist. “I suffered from depression after that bout. People used to say ye ladka kahtam hai,” he says.

For the next four months, he consulted his coaches at Railways to figure the reason behind his losses to the same opponent. “Because of depression, he was only half the wrestler he could have been. Mausam ka hath baith gya tha ispe or iske dimag mein ye baat,” said Sokendar Tomar, Railways coach.

“I told him to overcome the fear of losing against Mausam. We used to tell him that you are better than him,” he added.

And it took him four months to overcome that fear. It was after the bout against Mausam at PWL. “I lost to him with the whole nation watching me. Usse bura kya hota,” said Satyawart.

“Sab mind game hai. You get one second to beat your opponent and today it was me. There is nothing like past record or form in wrestling,” said the talented wrestler.