February 18 was a red-letter day for wrestler Sunil Kumar.

In New Delhi that day Sunil ended the country’s 27-year long wait for a gold medal in Greco Roman wrestling (which differs from freestyle in that it only permits holds to be made from the waist up) at the Asian Championships.

The 21-year-old Haryana lad registered a 5-0 win over Kyrgyzstan’s Azat Salidinov in the 87 kg final — an improvement on his own silver medal performance at the 2019 edition of the continental meet the year he turned a senior.

The last Indian Greco-Roman wrestler to win gold at the Asian Championships was Pappu Yadav, who bagged the 48kg title in 1993.

Sunil, who is getting battle ready for the Asian Olympic Qualifiers in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, next month, spoke to The Telegraph on his preparations — mental and physical — and more, from the national camp at the SAI Centre in Sonepat.

“I am absolutely focused on the Olympic Qualifiers now for which I am practising seven to seven-and-a-half hours daily, following a strict diet plan and adhering to my coach’s instructions to a T,” Sunil said. “The gold in the continental meet has given a tremendous boost to my confidence and in no way will I let that tempo down.”

Sunil’s father, Ashwini Kumar, a farmer in Dabarpur village of Haryana had a dream — to make his son a famous wrestler. With that in mind, he was enrolled at the Sports School in Nidani, Haryana, where he learnt the fundamentals of the sport.

It was a massive financial burden for the family and things became worse when his father died in a road accident in 2010. However, the family rallied round him and fulfilled his needs for specialised training.

“The journey from my village to the top of the Asian podium was full of obstacles. My family sacrificed a lot. I worked hard. Together, we had a mission. What further helped boost my performance was the guidance of my sport psychologist, Dr Swaroop Savanur,” said the grappler.

What exactly is the role of Dr Savanur, a mental conditioning and peak performance coach, in the lives of athletes?

“Look, an athlete and his coach are generally very clear about the technical/physical challenges that have to be faced. However, mental challenges are a different ball game. A player himself is often not aware of the issues that he needs to overcome,” said Dr Savanur.

“My job is to get an athlete to open up about his insecurities. I then identify four to five areas that need to be worked on. Mind it, I do not give motivational talks. It is not counselling. This is mental training, requiring time and practice in exactly the same way as one needs physical training.

“There are weekly training programmes that a player undergoes, depending on each one’s needs. It could be about controlling thoughts, dealing with stress and handling pressure situations. After a feedback, we move on to the next level.

“The beauty of sport is in its uncertainty. But with this uncertainty comes mental pressure which has to be controlled in order to succeed,” he added.

Sunil is extremely thankful to Lakshya Sports for having provided him with the psychologist (apart from looking after his nutritional and other needs).

“Like all athletes performing on the big stage, I too would have negative thoughts which would distract me from the task at hand. Mental conditioning has helped me control those thoughts and I now manage to achieve calm of mind during my bouts,” Sunil said.

Dr Savanur is impressed with the way Sunil has picked up his tips. “Sunil is a very fast learner. He has surprised me because mental grooming is a new area, something athletes hadnot been exposed to earlier. Sunil pushes me to tell him more. His feedback, this give and take with me, has helped me help him more,” he said.

Sunil had initially started as a freestyle wrestler and later shifted to the Greco Roman format in 2015 because, “I thought that that would be easier but I was wrong. Greco Roman, where there are standing techniques and ground techniques, is in fact tougher, ” he laughed.

However, well settled in the format now, Sunil hopes to be able to showcase his talent on the global stage in Tokyo.