At Balbir Dhesi’s house in Surrey, Canada, a silver mace received in dangals [wrestling bouts] in India by the previous Indian Greco Roman champion adorns the lounge, together with seven-eight maces received by his sons Amarveer Dhesi and Paramveer Dhesi in native Indian neighborhood competitions, aside from Amarveer’s worldwide medals. The Dhesi brothers grew up listening to their father’s feats within the Freestyle and Greco Roman circuit in India, in addition to the Canadian native wrestling circuit within the Nineteen Eighties. As 26-year-old Amarveer received the gold medal within the males’s 125 kg class after a win by fall (9-2) towards Pakistan’s Zaman Anwar, the senior Dhesi and his spouse Gurbax Kaur, together with their daughter Gulshan Kaur, had been cheering for Canada’s newest medalist within the Commonwealth Games.
“Sade ghar de living room ch mera tan sirf ek Gurj paya hai, baki sare Amarveer te Paramveer de hun (Our living room has only one mace won by me, rest have been won by Amarveer and Paramveer). And with Amarveer winning the gold medal in the Commonwealth Games, it will become the pride of the trophy cabinet. This is a medal for Canada as well for India as that’s where I started wrestling and both the kids have wrestling in their genes,” 72-year-old Balbir Dhesi informed The Indian Express.
Dhesi senior, who received the nationwide Greco Roman title in Mangalore earlier than shifting to Canada in 1979, hails from the village Sanghwal in district Jalandhar in Punjab. Apart from competing in nationwide competitions, he was additionally a well known title in dangals and received the Rustam e Hind title, aside from successful greater than 50 dangals in India.
“I loved wrestling in the village dangals since my childhood and later chose to compete in freestyle as well Greco Roman categories. I fought two-time Asian Games gold medallist Kartar Singh once in the nationals and also competed against Budh Singh. But the real satisfaction for me was winning in front of the huge crowds in the village dangals. When I shifted to Canada, I did take my one silverware mace and both Amarveer and Paramveer would fight to carry it and walk in the hall like they had won the title themselves,” shared Dhesi senior.
Even although he shifted to Canada, his love for wrestling noticed him competing in native wrestling melas [fairs] generally known as Chiinj within the Punjabi neighborhood; he would additionally type the Khalsa Wrestling Club in a neighborhood park in Surrey in 1985. With Paramveer being born in 1994 and Amarveer in 1995, Dhesi senior would take his younger sons to coach in native parks and would additionally make them wrestle in tournaments organised by the Indian neighborhood, generally travelling to different Canadian provinces too. A younger Amarveer would win the Canada Kesari title as a junior.
“Since there were a lot of Punjabis here, I formed the Khalsa Wrestling Club in a neighborhood park. Most of us would train and also train the kids in the park and it was years later that we got a facility on rent to train. At that time, I worked in a sawmill 8 km far from our home for more than 22 years and would earn about 2000 dollars per month. I would take my sons for training in the morning before work and in the evening after work. Amarveer was very good in dhak and dhobi pachad moves and we worked on these moves a lot,” says Dhesi senior.
While Paramveer would signify Canada within the 2010 Youth Olympics in Singapore, Amarveer Dhesi would initially compete in each freestyle in addition to Greco Roman, and would grow to be the Surrey and nationwide champion in each junior classes. In 2013, he acquired a full-time scholarship to Oregon State University and would grow to be the Pac-12 champion earlier than ending fifth within the NCAA Championships, a primary for an Indo-Canadian wrestler. After his silver medal on the planet junior wrestling championships in Zagreb in 2014, which was later transformed to gold as the opposite finalist examined optimistic, Amarveer Dhesi suffered a knee harm, however would bounce again to complete as runner-up within the Canadian Olympic workforce trials in 2015.
“Apart from my father who remains my biggest strength, I grew up admiring other wrestlers like Manjot Sandhu, Gurdeep Beesla and Fido Sahota competing in the Canadian circuit. To be selected for Oregon State University also meant that I would travel to Canada on some weekends to compete in local competitions too apart from playing in the NCAA circuit in the USA. But when I lost in the Canadian team’s trials for the Rio Olympics after being tied 2-2 in the final, I was devastated and wanted to quit the sport. But my coaches and my father told me that I am just 20 and there will be more opportunities for me in the future,” Amarveer Dhesi had informed this paper earlier.
Amarveer Dhesi grew to become the All American champion thrice and did his majors in sociology from Oregon State University. In 2017, he would earn a full scholarship to a Division One NCAA workforce, and end third and second in NCAA Championships in 2018 and 2019. He educated on the Ohio Regional Training Centre, house to a few of the finest wrestlers within the USA.
In 2019, Amarveer Dhesi received his spot within the Canadian workforce for the 2020 Pan American Olympic Qualification event and reached the ultimate, sealing a spot within the 125 kg class for the Tokyo Olympics.
“At the university, I was interested in doing my majors in sociology as I was interested in studies of large groups of people and why culture and societies think the way they do and act the way they do. Initially, I wanted to wrestle like my father but then I understood that I have to wrestle in my own way. To win the spot in the Canadian Olympic team and to represent Canada in Tokyo remains special for me,” stated Amarveer Dhesi.
While he’s normally busy enjoying in native competitions when he isn’t attending Wrestling Canada coaching camps, Amarveer Dhesi loves to observe London Olympics bronze medallist Yogeshwar Dutt’s wrestling movies, aside from two-time Olympic medallist Taha Akgul of Turkey. “I saw Indian wrestlers like Bajrang Punia compete in Rome Ranking Series and earlier and I loved watching Yogeshwar Dutt’s videos. I am a bit shy to approach Indian wrestlers but then we all share the same love for wrestling,” stated Amarveer Dhesi.
For Dhesi senior, his son’s medal can be celebrated by the entire Indian neighborhood as properly the local people in Surrey as soon as he returns. “When we started, we trained in parks and various buildings before Surrey Municipal Committee allotted us a training hall with two wrestling mats a few years ago. We plan to give Amarveer a grand reception on his return inviting all from the wrestling community as well as local residents,” says Dhesi senior.
