PARIS: Aman Sehrawat is just 21 but mature way beyond his age. He has been to hell and back.
He lost both his parents when he was just 11 years old. His mother took her own life after battling mental illness for years. His father also died soon after. Aman battled depression and tried to take drugs to forget his pain.He was in a dark place. But his uncle Sudhir Sehrawat was a pillar of support. He backed his nephew to concentrate on his wrestling career, take his mind off negative thoughts. His grandfather Mangeram also motivated him.
Inspired by Olympian Sushil Kumar‘s exploits, Aman had joined Chhatrasal Stadium in Delhi two years before his father passed away. With his uncle holding his hand now, life changed. Aman found peace on the mat. He had a mission in life. He made steady progress, kept reaching new milestones and made newspaper headlines when he became the first Indian to win a gold medal at U-23 World Wrestling Championship.
On Friday evening, at the Champs de Mars stadium, a makeshift arena right next to the Eiffel Tower, Aman took on Puerto Rico’s Darian Cruz in the 57kg freestyle bronze medal match, a weight category in which Ravi Dahiya had won silver for India in Tokyo.
Aman dominated his seasoned 29-yearold rival, a three-time medallist at the Pan American Games. After an initial contest, he won comfortably at 13-5. The bronze medal was India’s, the country’s fifth medal at the Games here.
In the first period, Cruz took the lead by grabbing Aman’s left leg and pushing him out of the orange circle. 1-0. Aman tried hard to draw level and went up 2-1 soon as he pinned Cruz to the mat. Cruz returned the compliment to go 3-2 up.
It was very close at this stage. But Aman started gaining confidence and started attacking more, lunging at Cruz’s legs to get the crucial points. He managed to do that midway through the period, to get two points for a 4-3 lead. The Puerto Rican seemed to be tiring now and just before the hooter, Aman got a good grip, Cruz went down to avoid a takedown and Aman was 6-3 ahead.
In the second period, Cruz came back determined and got two points. Aman was just a point ahead at 6-5 now. It could have gone either way, but Aman was not giving up. He took two points to go 8-5 ahead. There were just two minutes left for the final hooter. He was looking in control.
At this point, Cruz opted for a break, pointing to his left knee. He was trying to catch his breath against the young Indian. After the medical assistance, Cruz was back on the mat, looking a bit tired. Aman saw that and went in for the kill. His strategy was simple. He attacked his rival by grabbing his leg, forcing him to go down and then got on top for two points.
With a minute and 7 seconds to go, it was 10-5. With just 45 seconds left, it became 12-5. There was no way Cruz was coming back. Aman secured another point to emerge an easy winner and ran to his coach to celebrate his medal.
Hailing from village Birohar in Haryana’s Jhajjar district, Aman had a keen interest in mud wrestling as a kid. The move to the mat changed his life.
The 21-year-old, the lone Indian in the men’s section, had a good outing on Thursday here, posting two big wins to race through the pre-quarters and quarterfinals of the 57kg freestyle.
In the quarterfinals, Sehrawat was up against Albania’s Zelimkhan Abakarov. The verdict was 12-0 in the Indian’s favour as he rattled up the points over the two periods. He had lost to Akabarov at the senior World Championships.
Aman lost to his Japanese opponent in the semifinals but returned on Friday to fight for bronze. He was hungry, he was determined. He was the better wrestler.
This medal would give some solace to India’s wrestling contingent which was in a shock after Vinesh’s disqualification. It came as a much-needed balm.