Had I led attack, I could have won gold: Sushil Kumar

Disappointed at not winning gold in the London Olympics, India's silver medallist wrestler Sushil Kumar on Wednesday said that if he had attacked his Japanese opponent first then he could have defeated him in the final.

"Had I attacked the Japanese wrestler first, I could have won the gold medal for India in London Olympics," Sushil told reporters here.

The silver medallist arrived here to take part in the Madhya Pradesh government's Shikhar Khel Award ceremony, to be held later in the evening.

He was accorded a grand welcome on his arrival by the fans and various organisations in the state capital. Wrestling is a game of mind and power in which it is really difficult to read what is going on in the opponent's mind, Sushil said.

Asked if he was under pressure since his health was also not good on the day of final as he had reduced weight to win the gold medal in London, Sushil said there was no pressure.

"The only thing that was going on in my mind was to anyhow do something for the nation on that day," he said.

He said after the Beijing Olympics, everybody knew that he had a potential to win gold in London and he made lot of efforts for it.

On why best wrestlers are coming from Haryana and Delhi only, he said in both the states people send their children to Akharas (wrestling ring) from childhood and recalled that even he was sent for training under his guru, Satpal Singh, when he was studying in class VII.

He said in the next Rio-de-Janerio Olympics, he will ensure that "Japanese wrestlers have tears in their eyes." Describing Beijing bronze medallist boxer Vijender Singh and gold medallist shooter Abhinav Bindra as world class players, Sushil said that luck didn't favour them on that particular day (of the event).

Describing sports facilities in Bhopal as world class, he said state Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had assured him that he will honour all the six Olympic medal winners.

Madhya Pradesh has also produced world class wrestler Kripa Shankar Patel and a number of children from the state as well as other parts of the country are learning wrestling, Sushil added.