Narsingh can finish on podium in London: Coach

Jagmal Singh reckons that Narsingh Pancham Yadav is one of the best in world and could win a medal for the country during the London Olympics.

New Delhi: It took Narsingh Pancham Yadav the last qualifying tournament to make the cut for the London Olympics but his coach Jagmal Singh reckons that his ward was one of the best in world and could win a medal for the country during the marquee event.

Narsingh, who missed out on Olympic qualification on previous three occasions, yesterday dished out a superlative performance as he routed Olegk Motsalin of Greece 5-0 in the final of the 74kg category at the second World Qualifying tournament in Helsinki, Finland. "Ideally he should have qualified in the Asian Championship only, but sometimes your body is a bit slow to react. I always believed that he will make it to the Olympics and if he gets a good pool there he can definitely finish on the podium," the coach said. Jagmal, who has been training the youngster since 2000, said Narsigh inferior to no one. "Technically he is very strong and I firmly believe that he is one of the best in the world. Even if he has lost some bouts the margin has been pretty little, no one can beat him by one-third margin," he insisted. After getting a bye in the first round, Narsingh easily sailed past Germany`s Andriy Shyyka, before overwhelming Szabolcs Laszlo of Romania in the third round. The Indian grappler looked in total command against Turkey`s Batuhan Demircin in the semi-final to set a title clash against Motsalin. Having already booked a berth in the London Olympics with his entry into the finals, Narsingh set the mat ablaze with a 5-0 rout of the Greek to win the title bout. The 22-year-old grappler from Uttar Pradesh had failed to qualify on the previous three occasions as he returned empty handed from the World Championships before crashing out of the Asian Qualifiers in Astana, Kazakhstan. The wrestler again failed to make the cut during the First World Qualifying Tournament at Taiyuan, China where he lost to Kazakhstan's Bator Bazarov in the third round. Asked what sets Narsingh apart from other wrestlers, Jagmal said it was it was his ability to think out of the box. "Narsingh applies his mind well while fighting, he doesn't follow the prescribed procedure. If for example I will tell him to be defensive, he may well go the other way round. If he feels there is a better opportunity to score through attacking moves," Jagmal said. Meanwhile, secretary general of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) Raj Singh who is accompanying the team also hailed Yaday's performance. "He was superb throughout, I have no words to describe his performance. He was just fantastic," Raj Singh said. He insisted that Yadav did not let pressure overcome him as it was the last chance for Olympic qualification. "I won't say there was no pressure, but it worked in positive direction. It only motivated him to do better. And of course the previous performances also helped," he said. PTI