Friends, family elated as “Moni pehalwan” claims silver

Ravi Dahiya, popular as ‘moni pehalwan’ in his Nahri village in Haryana’s Sonepat, lost to Zavur Uguev of Russia in the 57kg freestyle wrestling final to claim a silver at the Tokyo Olympics. But his family and friends were elated to see him on the podium with the medal around his neck.

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Dahiya’s grandmother Savitri Devi, who had been promised gold by her grandson, was still thrilled. “chora abhi jawan hai, gold bhi lavega (the boy is still young, he will bring gold too). Our village is a nursery of wrestlers. Ravi’s medal will inspire youth to take up the sport. I want dozens of wrestlers from Nahri to bring medals for the country. I hope the government provides a new hospital and potable water to all houses in acknowledgement of Ravi’s win,” she said.

People from nearby villages started trickling into the 23-year-old Dahiya’s home on Thursday morning. They celebrated with dance and music when Dahiya wore the medal during the ceremony in Tokyo’s wrestling hall.

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The Sonepat district administration had made special arrangements by installing a large screen TV and ensured uninterrupted power supply at a community centre near Dahiya’s house for the local residents and visitors to watch the final. The wrestler's father, Rakesh Kumar Dahiya, was present too. Dahiya’s mother Urmila Devi, grandmother Savitri and other women watched the bout at their house.

Speaking to reporters after the final, Ravi’s father was disappointed. He said they were expecting a gold medal from him but securing silver in the Olympics is not easy.

“I hope the government will provide 24x7 uninterrupted power supply and better roads in future. The villagers are expecting that Dahiya’s medal will bring development to the village and the government will provide better facilities for budding wrestlers,” he added.

The villagers claimed they received only eight hours of electricity in a day. Nahri has a population of a little over 15,000 people and known as a wrestling hub. Prominent wrestlers like Amit Dahiya (2012 London Olympics, silver medalist at the 2013 world championships), Arun Kumar (gold medallist in the 2011 junior Asian championships) and Mahavir Singh (1980 Moscow and 1984 Los Angeles Olympics) have come from here.

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