TOPS has benefitted me a lot, looking to bring home gold from Oly, says wrestler Ravi Dahiya

Olympics-bound wrestler Ravi Dahiya, who won the gold medal at the Asian Wrestling Championships 2021 in Almaty, Uzbekistan, is raring to go for the upcoming Games in Tokyo.

Ravi has been a part of the Government of India's Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) since October 2019 after he had won a gold medal at the Senior World Championships and also in the process earned an Olympics quota in the men's 57kg freestyle category.

The support provided to Ravi from TOPS in the Olympic cycle includes the following: Towards International training and competitions: Rs. 5,07,981, Out of Pocket Allowance: Rs 9,00,000/- till April 19, 2021. Ravi is currently training in SAI centre Sonepat.

Ravi won all three bouts in an emphatic fashion at the Asian Wrestling Championships against Uzbekistan's Nodirjon Safarov, Palestine's Ali MM Aburumaila and Iran's Alireza Nosratolah Sarlak, respectively. Ravi has his eyes set on the Olympics.

"A medal is a medal but my personal ambition is to bring home the gold as it is what India needs the most. My only hope is to do something good for the country! Every Olympics, we are bringing home medals in wrestling since 2008 and the trend will continue this year as well," Ravi pointed.

Showing his gratitude towards the Sports Authority of India and the TOPS support, Ravi mentioned: "Sports Authority of India and TOPS are doing their best to help us. The TOPS has benefitted me a lot. Training has gone a notch higher and they have given us good sparring partners, more international exposures, physiotherapists and I also have a personal foreign coach now. Camps were also set up with utmost safety during the Covid times."

Ravi's personal coach is Kamal Malikov, who was recently funded by the TOPS to be alongside his ward during the Asian meet in Uzbekistan.

"Kamal sir is very disciplined and is very hard working. I want to give back to him in the best way by providing the best result for myself in the Olympics," Ravi said on his coach.

( With inputs from ANI )