12 December,2020 05:40 AM IST | Mumbai | Subodh Mayure
India wrestler Rahul Aware with his 57kg freestyle gold medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia. Pic/Getty Images
India wrestler Rahul Aware, 29, had a brilliant 2019 season, where he won four international medals. He followed that up with a bronze at the Asian Championships in New Delhi in February this year, before the coronavirus-forced lockdown halted his march.
He is now ready to grapple on the international stage once again, as he heads to Belgrade in Serbia for the Individual World Cup (December 12-18).
This competition is being held for the first time as the Wrestling World Championships had to be cancelled since most of the world's top wrestling nations refused to participate due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Aware himself was struck by the COVID-19 and has only recently recovered. However, before that, he completed his police training and last week took charge as Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) of Pune (rural).
Little preparation time
The 61kg freestyle wrestler, a 2018 Commonwealth Games (Gold Coast, Australia) gold and 2019 World Championships (Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan) bronze medallist, now wants to win a medal for the police force. "This World Cup will be challenging for all wrestlers because no one has competed in the last 10 months. For me, it has been even tougher because I had very little time to prepare as I had to complete my police training and immediately after that I contracted
COVID-19 and underwent treatment. However, I still managed to prepare myself for this competition. I feel my experience will help me win a medal here. In fact, I'm aiming for gold and will dedicate it to the police force who have worked so hard throughout this pandemic," Aware, 29, told mid-day on Wednesday.
Aware claimed that his recovery period from the Coronavirus was a very difficult time. "I tested positive for the Coronavirus after arriving in Sonepat [Haryana] for the national camp in September. That put me out of practice for a month. It was a testing time because I felt extremely weak.
Health concerns
"Even after recovering from the virus, it took me a few weeks to regain my strength. My father, Balasaheb, [a wrestling coach] was concerned about my health but encouraged me to fight the disease. He kept telling me not to give up and insisted that it's only a matter of a few days. He was confident that I would be back on the wrestling mat soon. I'm happy to prove him right," added Aware.
Rahul Aware's top medals
2020 Bronze Asian Championships, New Delhi
2019 Bronze World Championships, Nur-Sultan
2019 Bronze Asian Championships, Xi'an
2018 Gold Commonwealth Games, Gold Coast
2011 Gold Commonwealth Championships, Melbourne
2011 Bronze Asian Championships, Tashkent
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