Press Trust of India
New Delhi, August 25: Confident of securing an Olympic berth and that too with a gold-medal finish at the World Championships, wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt said an early qualification would give him enough time to work on increasing his stamina and experiment in the run-up to the Rio Games. The World Championships will take place September 7-12 in Las Vegas and Yogi (as he is popularly called) is supremely confident ahead of the event.
“I am confident of securing an Olympic quota place for India in the World Championships. An early qualification will give me a lot of time to increase my power and work on certain areas where I need improvement. I can also do some experiments during the next one year and see where I stand,” Yogi stated Tuesday.
The London Olympic bronze medallist, though, added that staying injury-free in the next one year would be his biggest challenge. The 32-year-old grappler said he recently sustained a knee injury, but has fully recovered now. “I am very prone to injuries and that is one area where I have to be extremely careful. Thankfully, I have recovered from the knee injury that I recently sustained,” informed Yogeshwar.
The top six positions in each category will ensure an Olympic berth for a country and Yogeshwar said unless something goes drastically wrong, he would successfully secure a berth for India in the men’s freestyle 65kg.
“I am extremely hopeful and confident of winning a gold medal this time. This is the only major tournament where the yellow metal has eluded me so far. I don’t aim for anything less than gold in any tournament, and this time also it will be no different,” asserted the grappler.