Chhatrasal Akhada: A legacy of Olympic success and traditional training methods
Wrestlers of various age groups are arriving at the Chhatrasal Akhada for nighttime training. They stay in the adjacent sports hostel. Coaches Jaibir Dahiya, Anil Mann, and Pradeep Dahiya are waiting for them.
Before beginning their warm-ups, each participant does their guru's usual knee-touch. The younger lads are quite delighted. They both have a big smile on their faces.
A week ago, one of them flew to Paris.
He won a bronze medal for his country in the Olympics on Friday. No surprise that everyone at the wrestling academy on Saturday was raving about Aman Sehrawat. Chhatrasal Akhada is no stranger to such highs.
Three years earlier, Chhatrasal trainees Ravi Dahiya (silver) and Bajrang Punia (bronze) earned Olympic medals in Tokyo. Till now, India has eight Olympic medals in wrestling, with Chhatrasal winning six of those. It started with Sushil Kumar, who won bronze in Beijing in 2008 and silver in London in 2012.
With training from this Chhatrasal Akhada, Sushil Kumar won bronze in Beijing in 2008 and silver in London in 2012.
Yogeshwar Dutt won a bronze medal for India at the same London Games. The academy's founder, Satpal Singh, who is also referred to by his wards as Guru Satpal, was the one who trained the Sushil and Yogeshwar pair. Back in 1988, Satpal launched the akhada on the grounds of Chhatrasal Stadium with the help of two additional wrestling coaches, Ramphal Mann, also known as Guru Ramphal, and Pradeep Sharma.
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