Wrestler Sushil Kumar sweats over losing one kilo

Wrestler Sushil sweating over being overweight by a kilo for next week's World C'hampionships

Wrestler Sushil sweating over being overweight by a kilo for next week's World C'hampionships

India's Olympic bronze medal-winning wrestler Sushil Kumar is all set to follow in the footsteps of his good friend and champion boxer Vijender Singh.

Sushil Kumar

No, the grappler is not signing a multi-crore contract as yet with a sports management firm a la Vijender, but Sushil is training hard to return with a medal from the September 21-27 Wrestling World Championship in Herring, Denmark.

Vijender made history by winning India's first ever medal a bronze at the recent World Boxing Championships in Milan and now the pressure is on Sushil.

However, that's not the only thing bothering the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award winner right now. There's another 'burden' too that he confessed to MiD DAY in a brief chat before his departure to Denmarku00a0how to shed that all important one kilo to qualify for the 66-kg freestyle category at the World Championships.

Excerpts from a chat:

How are your preparations for the World Championship going?
My preparations are going just fine. I'm putting in five to six hours of practice daily under the supervision of my coach (Yashveer). And even he believes everything is going well except for one little glitch that we discovered only yesterday. I am one kilo overweight 67 kilos for the 66-kg freestyle category.

Is this a major concern?
It's not a major problem because these things happen, but it's not something you would like before a World Championship.

Has this hampered your training?
Not in a big way. It's just that I have to put in an hour of extra training so that I sweat a little more and the extra weight is lost.

I will be weighed officially in Denmark on September 20, so I still have two days to lose the extra baggage which I'm sure I will.

Are you on a crash diet?
Absolutely! I'm avoiding meals and only having an occasional bowl of fruits. I have to check my water intake too as water retention could increase weight. As a substitute for water, I have a glass of lime juice everyday. That makes up for vital vitamins too. But my normal diet (250 grams of almonds in cold milk, other dry fruits and two large vegetarian meals) has gone for a toss.

With Vijender winning in Milan, is there pressure on you to repeat your Olympic glory?
People's expectations rise with every victory. I'm glad I was able to live up to my Olympic tag at the recent German Grand Prix where I won gold. However, I realise that I have a point to prove at the Worlds after having lost in the quarter-finals at the 2007 World Championships.

But after that, I won two medals (Olympics and Germany GP) which have given me a lot of confidence as I head to Denmark.