With Worlds coming up, wrestlers head for Belarus

NEW DELHI: Wrestler Sushil Kumar only has one goal at the moment - to do well at the London Olympics.
However, the first task will be to qualify for the 2012 Games and the road to that begins at the World Championships in Istanbul, Turkey, next month.
And to do well at the Worlds, a group of 28 grapplers - including Sushil - will have a 21-day training camp in Belarus.The squad departs for Belarus on Saturday.
Sushil, who will be fighting in his first tournament after the 2010 CWG due to a shoulder injury, is looking to book an Olympic berth at the first attempt.
"My focus is to practice counter-attack and fine tune different techniques. The aim is to qualify in this meet itself, so I get enough time to prepare for London," Sushil told TOI on Thursday.
"Wrestlers from around the world come to train in Belarus and the benefit of training there reflects in our performances," he added.
The Indian squad consists of 14 freestyle and 14 Greco-Roman grapplers who will get an opportunity to understand European wrestling during the camp.
"The team will be training in Minsk, capital of Belarus, before leaving for Istanbul on September 11. We plan to undergo a combined training camp with wrestlers from other parts of the world," coach Yashvir Singh said.
"There is a difference in Asian and European styles of wrestling. Combined training will give us a better understanding of their style. It will also help the Indian wrestlers overcome their weaknesses," Singh added.
The last time Indian wrestlers trained in Belarus was ahead of the 2008 Beijing Olympics where Sushil bagged a bronze.
For Yogeshwar Dutt, another leading Indian wrestler who was forced to stay away from the sport due to many injuries, training with a different partner will be the highlight in Belarus.
"Foreign wrestlers like to attack the legs, so training with them just ahead of an important meet will give us a major push," Dutt felt.
Other wrestlers like Asian Games bronze medalist Mausam Khatri (96 kg), Rajiv Tomar (120 kg) and Rahul Aware (55 kg) also have high expectations from the camp.