Medal winners 66 kg wrestling
Sushil with his Silver Medal
Sushil after winning the Silver Medal
Sushil in Hercules like pose in Semi-Final Bout against Akzhurek Tanatarov
Freestyle grappler Sushil Kumar capped the country's most successful campaign at the Olympic Games with a historic silver medal as he became the first Indian to win back-to-back individual medals at the mega event.
Sushil, a bronze medallist in 2008 at Beijing, fought bravely after vomiting and suffering dehydration following his semi-final victory, but ended up a 1-3 loser against a strong Japanese rival Tatsuhiro Yonemitsu in the gold medal bout.
The final was held inside three hours after his semifinal victory over Kazakhstan's Akzhurek Tanatarov.
And to add to the 29-year-old Indian fighter's woes he had picked up a neck injury too that hampered his progress against Guangzhou Asian Games champion Yonemitsu.
The Haryana wrestler's silver medal was also India's third wrestling medal in Olympic history with K D Jadhav (1952) and Yogeshwar Dutt, won win bronze yesterday in the 60kg freestyle class, being the previous winners.
The day's focus for India was firmly trained on Sushil who progressed to the final after getting past three rivals.
The star Indian grappler trailed 0-1 after the first round and was out of the contest within 30 seconds of the second round when Yonemitsu penetrated his defence, lifted him up and banged him on the mat to fetch a decisive three-point lead.
Sushil had made a stunning comeback in the semifinal but could not repeat that in the final, although he reduced the margin by getting one point.
Earlier, the pin-up boy of Indian wrestling fought the best bout of his life as he came from behind to beat Tantarov 3-1 in the semi-final.
Sushil first used the Iranian technique to get over his opponent and then rolled him over for two points. A head butt by Tantarov assured him another point.
The second round undoubtedly belonged to the 25-year-old Kazakh wrestler as he put Sushil on the mat and tossed him over to get 3-0 clincher.
When the third round started, the 29-year-old Indian looked tired and jaded as within the first seconds, conceded a 3-0 lead to the Kazakh.
The match looked as good as over for Sushil who waited for that one inspirational moment as he caught Tantarov by his leg and pegged him down to make it 3-3 with the vociferous Indian contingent egging him on.
This was followed by a Hercules-like act as he suddenly stood up with the Kazakh hanging on his shoulders and then floored his rival on the mat to emerge victor.
Earlier, Sushil disposed of defending champion Ramazan Sahin of Turkey, the 2008 gold medalist, in his first bout and then prevailed over Uzbekistan's Ikhtiyor Naruzov 3-1 in the quarter-finals.
India's Sushil Kumar wants to complete his Olympic medal collection by winning gold at the 2016 Games in Rio after taking wrestling silver on the final day of action in London.
Defeat by Tatsuhiro Yonemitsu of Japan saw Kumar, the 2010 world champion, add Olympic silver to the bronze he won in Beijing four years ago.
No sooner had he lost than Kumar was eyeing a full set of medals in Brazil, having become the first Indian competitor in an individual sport to be on the podium at successive Olympics.
"Where I practise in India, I had good opponents to practise with," the 29-year-old, from Najafgarh in south-west Delhi, explained.
"This silver medal has been possible because of them. At the next Olympics it's going to be even better," added Kumar, India's flag-bearer at the opening ceremony.
Kumar was well beaten in the final, losing 3-1 as Yonemitsu became the first Japanese man to win a wrestling gold medal for 24 years.
But Kumar's achievement was widely praised by a variety of sports stars back home, with cricket great Sachin Tendulkar leading the way.
"Sushil has done us proud by winning India its second silver medal," tweeted the master batsman. "We are proud of his dedication, commitment and effort. Well done Sushil!!"
In London, India also won a silver through pistol shooter Vijay Kumar as well as four bronze medals by badminton star Saina Nehwal, rifle shooter Gagan Narang, boxer Mary Kom and Sushil Kumar's fellow wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt, in the 60kg freestyle category.
Narang, who opened India's account in London by winning the men's 10-metre air rifle, said: "This is a great show by Indian wrestling. Sushil has inspired a new generation of wrestlers.
"This time he has gone one step ahead and created history."
Dutt's home state of Haryana announced they'd be awarding him 10 million rupees ($181,000) in recognition of his bronze.
However, Kumar -- looking to follow in the footsteps of Abhinav Bindra, whose shooting gold in Beijing remains India's only individual Olympic title -- said the greatest prize of all might have been his on Sunday.
Kumar explained he'd suffered a stomach upset after his semi-final, having endured a gruelling path to the final that started with an opening contest against 2008 gold medallist Ramazan Sahin of Turkey.
"I had a stomach infection but difficulty and pain are part of the sport, I don't want to make excuses," said Kumar.
His semi-final win over Akzhurek Tanatarov of Kazakhstan was marred by allegations he'd bit his opponent.
But Kumar insisted: "These are ridiculous allegations. These things (blood injuries) happen."
