Indian-origin wrestler Vinod Kumar Dahiya to represent Australia at Rio Olympics

Melbourne: Indian origin wrestler Vinod Kumar Dahiya is all set to represent Australia at the Rio Olympics after he qualified in the 66kg weight category in Greco-Roman event.

According to the official website, Vinod, originally from a small village of Khanda in Haryana, became a citizen of Australia a year ago and is now all set to make his debut at the Olympics, to be held in August.

The 31-year-old grappler secured an Olympic berth after winning a silver medal at the African/Oceania Olympic qualifiers in Algeria.

Following the footsteps of his older brothers, Vinod started wrestling at age of eight. Seeing his potential, Vinod's family sent him to Mahabali Satpal's wrestling academy in New Delhi in 1998. Thereafter, he participated in state and national competitions for four years. He also competed in the popular Indian sport of dirt wrestling.

Vinod migrated to Australia in 2010, where he started training at the United Wrestling Club under former Wresting Australia President, Kuldip Bassi.

Based in Victoria, Vinod has so far claimed six national championships and countless medals at the Australia Cup and Canberra Cup tournaments.

He represented the green and gold for the first time at the Oceania Championships in New Zealand in March, where he bagged the gold medal.