Talented wrestler suffering in poverty

Nizamabad: Venkatesh Goud who carved a niche for himself in wrestling at the national level is suffering in penury today. An extremely talented youth who excelled in his sport, his misfortune is that there is nobody to sponsor him and provide him an opportunity to exhibit his talent.

Hailing from Faridpet village of Machareddy mandal in Kamareddy district, Venkatesh Goud was born to Srinivas Goud and Manemma. He had to give up wrestling and also higher studies. Already, he had won three gold medals at the national level. He is struggling very hard to feed his family.

Speaking to The Hans India here on Tuesday, the wrestler Venkatesh Goud asid that he was ready to prove his mettle at the international level if the State government comes forward and sponsors him for the wrestling matches. Unfortunately, that is not happening, he bemoans.

Nowadays, he is working as a daily wage worker to make both ends meet. His father Srinivas Goud is also a daily wage worker in a toddy shop and does not own any property. They do not even own a house and struggling very hard in poverty. Goud said that it was sad to see his son move away from wrestling, which he likes most.

Venkatesh said that he has been very fond of wrestling from his childhood and has an ambition of becoming a champion wrestler. After watching him participate in wrestling matching in school, his physical education teacher Naveen encouraged him to practice and participate more in wrestling matches as he noticed the spark in his pupil. Under the training given by his coach Venkat, Goud became a famous wrestler in a short time.

Later, under the aegis of the School Games Federation, Goud participated in a district level wrestling match in 2010 and bagged a gold medal in the Under-17 category. He also participated in the State level wrestling match at Nandyal and bagged a gold medal. He was able to reach the quarter-finals also. In 2011, he participated in another district-level match and bagged another gold medal.

Exuding confidence, Goud said that if the State government sponsors him, he would excel as a wrestler at the national and international levels and bring laurels to Nizmabad district also make Telangana proud. The locals here also felt that the government should come to his rescue as he has got the talent to excel as a wrestler. Wrestling also requires patronage and sponsorships like cricket, they added.