New Delhi:
After his gold medal winning performance in Moscow, Sushil Kumar arrived in Delhi on Tuesday to a rapturous welcome. Then the day was spent attending various felicitation functions, but once such function didn't quiet turn out the way Sushil would have liked.
In a case of high handedness, Sports Minister MS Gill insulted Sushil Kumar's coach Satpal during a photo shoot at his residence, when he insisted that Satpal step aside while he himself posed for the camera along with Sushil.
He later chose to invite Coach Yashwir, who accompanied the Indian team during the event in Moscow for the photo session while still keeping Satpal away from all the action.
"I don't know why he did that. You have to ask him, my job is to coach. I coached Sushil for so many years and I will continue to produce more wrestlers," said Satpal, Dronacharya awardee.
Satpal himself might have gone the diplomatic route, but for his ward this incident was far more painful than the blow he received to his right eye while fighting for the gold in Moscow.
Sushil expressed that he was hurt by MS Gill's actions by saying, "Satpal has been my coach for the past 13-14 years. He is coach to over 900 kids. If a coach is insulted then his pupil also feels insulted."
For MS Gill though it must have been a case of Déjà vu, considering he had infamously snubbed Saina Nehwal's coach Gopi Chand when the two had come visiting him last year, asking only the second Indian to win the All England Championship to introduce himself.