After FILA award, Yashvir eyes Dronacharya recognition

New Delhi: He is a proud man after becoming the first Indian to be honoured with the International

Wrestling Federation (FILA) coach of the year award in Murica, Spain recently but Yashvir Singh said Dronacharya recognition would have been more satisfying for him. "Both the awards have their own importance but getting Dronacharya award (the country`s highest honour in the field of coaching) would have made me more proud," said Yashvir, who is the coach of world champion Sushil Kumar. He received the award from the President of FILA, Raphael Martineeti, for helping Sushil to put an outstanding performance during the World Championship in Moscow, where the grappler upset Alan Gogaev of Russia 3-1 to become the only Indian to win the elusive world title. Asked whether he was upset not to have received recognition from his country first for his contribution to the sport, a diplomatic Yashvir said, "There were others before me who deserved the accolades (hinting at Satpal Singh)." An elated Yashvir also hailed the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) and Satpal for their continuous support. "The credit for this award goes to my federation who nominated me and to Satpal Singh who has been a great mentor over the years," he said. On his Dronacharya prospects, Yashvir said he has not applied for the award till now but said he may apply for the same in the near future. The coach said, though changes have been made in the current system of applying for the award and the subsequent nomination by the federation for the coveted honour, there is a need to adopt these changes more sincerely. "If the system changes it is good," Yashvir said. Asked about the reason behind Indian grapplers unimpressive showing in last month`s Guangzhou Asian Games, Yashvir blamed it on lack of time and injury woes. "We could not get much time to train for the Asian Games and besides our main medal hopes -- Sushil Kumar and Yogeshwar Dutt -- could not participate in the event due to injuries," he said. Emphasising on the fact that there was little time between the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games, the coach said, "Increasing and decreasing of weight affects the performance of the wrestlers. "The competition at Asian Games was more intense than the CWG." Asked about the plans for the 2012 London Olympics, he said prior to the quadrennial event Indian wrestlers main focus would be on the World Championship to be held in Turkey during September next year and the Olympic qualifiers. "Our first target would be the World Championship in Turkey and the qualifiers," Yashvir said adding, "The upcoming wrestling national championship this month will be a good platform to begin." Shedding some light on Sushil, the coach said there has been a lot of improvement in the star wrestler`s play. "The world title has infused a lot of confidence in Sushil and has also helped him to raise his understanding about the game," Yashvir added. PTI