Daily Times

LAHORE: Wrestler Muhammad Inam Butt won a gold medal for Pakistan after winning the final of the men’s freestyle 86kg event at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia on Saturday. The win moved Pakistan from a modest 31st position to 22nd in the rankings within a few hours. The 29-year-old triumphed over Nigeria’s Melvin Bibo 6-0 in the closing fight to earn gold. Prior to his final fight, Inam defeated Canada’s Alexander Moore and India’s Somveer in the semi-finals and quarter-finals, respectively. The champion began his winning campaign with a win over Australia’s Jayden Lawrence in his first match. Pakistan’s top wrestler for nearly a decade, Inam had been targeting gold at the Commonwealth Games. “History proves that wrestlers are the best among Pakistani contingents at the games. Wrestling has always been a success for us, and I want that gold,” Inam had told media before the mega event Down Under. Pakistan has won 40 medals in wrestling at the Commonwealth Games with 20 gold, 11 silver and nine bronze medals.

In the first period of the final fight, 29-year-old Inam won one technical point while Bibo failed to score any point. In the second period, Inam secured 2, 2, and 1 technical points to secure five points and subsequently finished with six points against Bibo’s nil. Having secured six technical points, Inam was awarded three classification points and won the fight with 3:0 to win the first gold medal for his country. Later Inam revealed how he hatched a spontaneous psychological plan to tame Indian rival Somveer in the quarter-finals before going all the way. In a series of videos made soon after his historic 3-0 victory in the final, Inam recalled: “Somveer was already the pre-event favourite and on my way to the wrestling mat I noticed how Indian fans were outnumbering Pakistan fans. They were chanting ‘India, India!’ and cheering for their guy. This is when I changed my mindset. I told myself that all these people are not shouting ‘India India’ but are actually saying Inam, Inam!’ It helped me become extra aggressive and win that fight. And once I had beaten the Indian guy I was sure that now I would not settle for anything less than gold.” Inam also talked about his dominating win over Bibo in the gold medal match, saying: “This guy (Bibo) is the African champions and currently world number two. But our team identified his weak areas and formulated a special plan, which I executed to perfection and won the gold medal for Pakistan.” For Inam, like any other wrestler, the ultimate target remains the Olympic Games – a dream he believes can be achieved if the government and relevant sports boards support local athletes.

“The athletes we compete against go through full four-year preparations for the Olympics,” said Inam. “Even the Indian athletes, when we talk to them, they tell us that as soon as an Olympic event ends they start preparing for the next one in foreign countries. An of course that four years of high-level training shows physically and in their results. The next Olympics is now two years away. I plead with the Pakistan government and the Pakistan Sports Board to please cooperate with us,” he added. Pakistan’s overall performance at the Commonwealth Games had been dreary. Talha Talib and Nooh Dastagir Butt won two bronze medals in the 62kg and +105kg weightlifting events, while wrestler Muhammad Bilal won bronze on Thursday in the 57kg event. Wrestler Tayyab Raza also won bronze medal in the 125kg freestyle event on Saturday taking the country’s medals tally to five.

Published in Daily Times, April 15^th 2018.