Indian wrestlers leave for London Olympics
New Delhi, July 17 : Union Steel Minister Beni Prasad Verma on Tuesday gave a send-off to two Indian wrestlers Sushil Kumar and Yogeshwar Dutt, who will participate in the London Olympics, at a function in New Delhi.
Sushil Kumar will be India`s flag-bearer at the London Olympics opening ceremony on July 27.
Maharatna Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), a PSU under the Ministry of Steel, has been providing financial support for the training and other requirements of the wrestlers.
Wishing them success at the Olympics, the Steel Minister urged the wrestlers to bring home laurels.
He also took stock of the players' preparedness for the coming international event.
Sushil Kumar had had beaten Leonid Spiridonov (Kazakhstan) to win the bronze in the 2006 Doha Asian Games. He won the bronze medal in the men`s 66-kg freestyle category at the Beijing Olympics 2008, gold in the World Wrestling Championship in 2010 and the gold medal in the freestyle 66-kg category at the Commonwealth Games 2010 in New Delhi. He was conferred with the Arjuna Award in 2006 and Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna in 2009.
Yogeshwar Dutt, who had won golds in the 2003, 2005, 2010 CWG held in Canada, South Africa and India respectively, is now focusing his attention on winning gold at the forthcoming London Olympics. Dutt also received the Arjuna Award for 2008-09.