Todkar is the next big thing in wrestling: Coach

After ousting Dahiya and Naveen (7-3), Todkar lost to Rahul Aware by technical superiority in the semi-final.

ON Sunday, when unheralded Atish Todkar, 20, surprised the world by knocking out Olympic silver medallist Ravi Dahiya, 25, in the 57kg Asian Games trials in New Delhi, one person was not surprised by the victory - Dinesh Gunde - Todkar's coach from Alandi, Pune, also an international referee, was present to witness his ward's remarkable performance as he defeated Dahiya 20-8.

The Maharashtra wrestler, a gold medallist in U-20 Nationals and silver medallist at the U-23 Nationals, consistently dodged Dahiya by moving swiftly from under his arms to move back for take-down moves. Dahiya had a 6-4 lead going into the second period, but after that, it was the Maharashtra wrestler all the way. Two consecutive takedowns and a four-pointer from the edge of the mat that Todkar pulled off, rattled Dahiya.

After ousting Dahiya and Naveen (7-3), Todkar lost to Rahul Aware by technical superiority in the semi-final.

Later, Aman Sehrawat, who won the 57kg trials, qualified for the Asian Games. Though Todkar did not qualify, Gunde is confident that he is the next big thing in wrestling. "I was refereeing on another mat, but luckily got to see Atish's bout since all matches were stopped while everyone were watching Atish and Ravi fight it out. The scoreline 20-8 is an indication that he [Atish] did not win by fluke, but with his talent. Atish has always been an attacking wrestler and is surely the next big thing - especially in the 57kg category," Gunde told www.mid-day.com.

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Todkar has trained under the international referee from the time he was seven, till 2017 at Jog Maharaj Vyayam Shala in Alandi, before shifting to the Virendra Wrestling Academy in Narela.

Todkar's mud-to-mat story has just begun, feels the coach. Gunde recalled how Todkar kept his promise of defeating Dahiya. "I told Atish that Ravi is a big name and he should go all out since you have nothing to lose. But if you win, it will be huge. That's what he did and even Gyan Singh [the ad-hoc committee chief] praised him," remarked Gunde.

Meanwhile, Todkar, a farmer's son from Ashti in Beed district, refuses to get carried away by the attention and is training hard for the 61kg trials of the Sr World Championships that will take place in the next 15 days.

"It's rightly said that it takes an army to build an athlete. That holds true for me too. My dad [Sunil], who sold a part of his land to help me with my wrestling career, Valmik [my wrestler uncle] because of whom I started wrestling in mud, Gunde sir, Dr Sandeep Kalamkar [orthopedic surgeon in Ahmednagar], who treated my fractured right leg after I was hit by a truck in 2016, Sarpanch Mahadev Dindi of Mangrul village, Gautam Takle, among others, have helped me financially and guided me every time I was low.

"Coming back to the win over Dahiya, I would be lying if I say I wasn't nervous. But I was confident of defeating him. I do not want to be happy with this, but train hard and come back strongly. I need to focus on training for the Sr World Championships 61kg trials," explained Todkar, a SY Bachelor of Arts (BA) student of Bhagwan Mahavidyalaya in Ashti, Beed.