Wrestling: Coach rebuilds akhada with loan after Muzaffarnagar riots, his ward wins national gold

Six years ago during the Muzaffarnagar riots, Shahpur village was one of the worst-affected areas. Close to six dozen people were killed and several others were displaced in the district.

Nirdosh Baliyan was at home in Goyla village when he heard of the news that riots have broken out in the area. He rushed to the Shahpur government college where he ran a wrestling akhada.

“I could not believe that even the college was not spared. The wrestling mat was gone... everything was gone,” Nirdosh Baliyan rued.

The Shahpur Inter College had a small wrestling training hall with one mat where more than 60 wrestlers trained under Nirdosh Baliyan. Wrestlers from all over Uttar Pradesh trained there but when the riots broke, they left for home and most of them never returned.

Amongst the wrestlers was Gourav Baliyan from the neighbouring village of Shoron. Gourav Baliyan, too, left the akhada where he had been training for two years and his wrestling career came to a grinding halt.

A disappointed Nirdosh Baliyan returned home and started helping his father in the farms. But one day, around seven months later, he decided to restart his training centre. After discussing with his father, he took a loan and gave his family land as a guarantee to the bank.

“I took Rs 60 lakh as loan from the bank and gave my five acres of land as a guarantee,” he said. “The land I have now is on a 29-year lease. It was difficult for me to sit at home and see these kids stop wrestling. So, I risked everything.”

Six years later, Nirdosh Baliyan is thankful that he took that risk. From the coach’s corner, Nirdosh Baliyan saw his 18-year-old ward Gourav Baliyan dominate wrestlers far older than him and win the gold medal in the 74 kg weight category at the U23 National Championships on Friday in Shirdi, Maharashtra.

Gourav Baliyan also booked his spot on the Indian team for the U23 World Championships which will be held in Budapest, Hungary from October 28 to November 3.

“We haven’t achieved anything yet,” Nirdosh Baliyan said. “He is still a kid and I want to see him wrestle in at least three Olympics. These are the steps you take to reach the ultimate goal. He has the passion and works harder than most.”

In Shirdi, Gourav Baliyan showed exactly why his coach rates him highly. In the quarter-finals, he took out Vikas of Chandigarh 14-4 before beating former junior Asian champion and national team member Sachin Rathee 3-1 in the semi-final. In the final, Gourav Baliyan was too strong for Pritam of Haryana and won 5-1.

“I thought I could wrestle a couple of more bouts. I did not think of anything being too difficult here,” Gourav Baliyan said. “Whatever the coach told me, I stuck to that. He has been helping me since 2011.”

Gourav Baliyan began wrestling in his village as an eight-year-old. He used to accompany his uncle Krishan Baliyan to a local akhada. But once his uncle stopped, he shifted to Shahpur where Nirdosh Baliyan was the coach. The young kid found a father figure in his coach.

The UP native had lost his father to cancer in 2007 when he was six. With little land, feeding three growing children became a big task for Gourav Baliyan’s mother, so she decided to join the anganvadi for a salary of Rs 2000 per month.

“He used to drink around 5 litres of milk and he was growing so we needed a good diet,” Nirdosh Baliyan said. “His mother could not afford anything. So I helped and we took money from others. He began competing in dangals and local competitions to get some money. He survived.”

But Gourav Baliyan never forgot that he has two elder brothers and a mother to take care of. He would send part of his winnings home as well.

“My two brothers are still looking for a job,” he said. “My mother is still working in the anganvadi. I try to help in whatever way I can and whatever I have is because of wrestling.”

This is not the first time Gourav Baliyan has excelled at the national level. He already has two cadet national titles and a junior title which came earlier this year.

Last year at the cadet World Championships, he had reached the final after beating wrestlers from Russia and USA. Leading 6-2 in the final against Georgia’s Bagrati Gagnidze, Gourav Baliyan gave up four points in last 20 seconds to finish with a silver medal and tears in his eyes. Thankfully, the setback only seems to have made him stronger.

“It was my first-ever international tournament, a World Championships and I was in the final,” he said. “How do you control your mind then? I thought I have won and did not concentrate in the final seconds. I should not have thought about the future.”

He did not repeat the same mistake in Shirdi. Against more experienced wrestlers, he kept his cool and took the competition one bout at a time.

“I am happy I did not lose my cool in the final and finished with a gold medal. I cannot thank my coach enough,” he said. “My stamina is good and I really like scoring points on singles leg attacks. The ground defence is slightly weak.”

Still eligible to participate in the juniors for two years, Gourav Baliyan lost close to a year’s time due to an injury. In April this year, he participated in the U23 Asian Championships but lost his bout 0-10 after suffering a back injury.

He participated in the selection trials for the senior World Championships in August, losing to Vinod Kumar in the first bout 2-3. Coach Nirdosh Baliyan believes he will slowly inch closer to the top level.

“He knows the technique and skills of wrestling, but he needs someone to tell him when to use which one,” he said. “He needs more power and flexibility. I train kids in gymnastics first now but when he began we did not have the facilities. Now, we are patient about the results. I always tell him to make wrestling your passion and things will follow. Do not wrestle because you need a job.”

For now, Gourav Baliyan is focused on the U23 World Championships which will be his third international tournament. But he knows it won’t be easy.

“I want to do my best,” he said. “I am still a junior wrestler and have not fought them but I think I will be good at U23 as well.”

Nirdosh Baliyan is looking at the bigger picture and while the feeling of winning a medal in Budapest would be welcome, for now, he wants Gourav Baliyan to just show his best wrestling.

“Audience, players and rules make up any sport. A player is supposed to entertain the audience within the rules,” he said. “Medal or no medal doesn’t matter but I want him to entertain the audience with his wrestling. He should do well and get some experience even if he loses.”