SUSHIL Kumar made history by becoming the first Indian to win a World wrestling championship gold medal when he overpowered home favourite Alan Gogaev to win the 66kg freestyle title in Moscow yesterday.
The exciting 3-1 victory in the title-bout also made Sushil the first Indian grappler to bag Olympic and World championship medals. The 27-year-old already holds the Asian and Commonwealth titles.
On his way to the final, Sushil convincingly defeated Anastasios Akritidis of Greece (6-0), Martin Sebastian Daum of Germany (4-1) and Batzorig Buyanjar of Mongolia (9-1) before rallying to beat reigning European champion Jabrayil Hasanov of Azerbaijan (4-3).
In a message, Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh said: “Sushil Kumar has done the country proud and is a role model for the youth.”
