DELHI, India - Perfection for freestyle wrestler Arjan Bhullar on the tenth day of the tenth month of 2010.
The 24-year-old from Richmond, B.C., beat Indian rival Joginder Kumar for the men’s 120 kilogram gold medal Sunday at the Commonwealth Games.
“I've been training for eight years and I've seen this over and over in my mind," Bhullar said. "I saw this match over and over in my head. I knew it would be down to me and India."
Bhullar drove Kumar out of the ring in the first period and sealed the victory in the second by pinning him to the mat.
Bhullar’s win briefly prevented the host country from increasing its second-place gold medal advantage over England and Canada. But it also delighted those who were cheering for the son of Avtar Bhullar, a former professional wrestling star who migrated to Canada from an Indian village called Bhullar. Family and friends from India and Canada attended the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex.
"I was born in Canada and owe a lot to Canada, but India is always where my roots are,” said Bhullar, who trains at Simon Fraser University under coach Dave McKay.
