New Delhi, May 9: He might have qualified after two missed opportunities but Beijing Olympics bronze medalist Sushil Kumar on Wednesday said his confidence never wavered during the rough phase and the grappler is now eyeing a gold in the London Games.
Sushil put Indian wrestling on the world map after winning the bronze at Beijing four years ago. In 2010, he stamped his authority by clinching the World Champion title in the 66 kg freestyle competition at Moscow, Russia.
However, what followed was a series of poor performance as he first failed to defend his title at the 2011 World Championship and then could not qualify for the London Games at the Asian qualification event last month.
But Sushil finally answered his critics when he earned his ticket to London, wining the gold medal at the World Qualifier in Taiyuan, China -- to make his third successive appearance at the mega event.
"There was never any pressure on me. If I think about pressure I won't be able to perform. I just believe in working hard. I will give my best and I am confident of doing better than last Olympics," said Sushil, who beat 2008 Beijing bronze medallist Tushishvili Otar 3-0 on his way to a gold at China.
"I had injured my shoulder and couldn't perform but the coaches knew that I can do well in China. I believed in myself and knew that I will get well. Everybody around me kept saying that I will qualify and it kept me motivated," he said on the sidelines of the unveiling of a docu series 'Travelling with the PROS' by model-turned actor Bikram Saluja.
Sushil's coach Yashvir Singh, who received Federation of International Wrestling (FILA) Coach of the Year award for 2010, said his performance dwindled mainly because of injury and felt his qualifying late won't affect him in London.
"There was a one-year gap between CWG and 2011 World Championship in Istanbul and before Asian Olympic Qualifiers in Kazakhstan, he was injured, so he couldn't perform. I don't think his qualifying late will affect his chances. His competitors also qualified late," he said.
