Man vs wild: Wrestler set to fight a bear
“I’ll challenge Indian wrestlers once I defeat the bear,” Makhan Pehlwan.
A four-member committee of local wresters- Attique Cheema, Sataesh Bhatti, Phool Boota and Ijaz Pehlwan- is making arrangements for the match. PHOTO: FILE
KAMOKE:
A wrestler in Gujranwala has announced to wrestle a bear in a public gathering at a sports stadium next month. Winner of the Fakhar-i-Gujranwala championship, Makhan Pehlwan on Thursday said he would fight a bear at the Jinnah Stadium in Kamoke on November 29.
A four-member committee of local wresters- Attique Cheema, Sataesh Bhatti, Phool Boota and Ijaz Pehlwan- is making arrangements for the match.
Makhan Pehlwan said due to shortage of resources and training centres and lack of government’s interest in the sport, wrestlers were forced to work as labourers, who, he said, could have been competing in international competitions otherwise.
“I decided to restore the reputation of wrestling in Gujranwala the day Indian wrestlers knocked out our wrestlers,” he said.
For the moment, Makhan Pehlwan said, he was focusing on getting himself through the fight with the bear.
“I’ll challenge Indian wrestlers once I defeat the bear.”
Published in The Express Tribune, October 25th, 2013.
A wrestler in Gujranwala has announced to wrestle a bear in a public gathering at a sports stadium next month. Winner of the Fakhar-i-Gujranwala championship, Makhan Pehlwan on Thursday said he would fight a bear at the Jinnah Stadium in Kamoke on November 29.
A four-member committee of local wresters- Attique Cheema, Sataesh Bhatti, Phool Boota and Ijaz Pehlwan- is making arrangements for the match.
Makhan Pehlwan said due to shortage of resources and training centres and lack of government’s interest in the sport, wrestlers were forced to work as labourers, who, he said, could have been competing in international competitions otherwise.
“I decided to restore the reputation of wrestling in Gujranwala the day Indian wrestlers knocked out our wrestlers,” he said.
For the moment, Makhan Pehlwan said, he was focusing on getting himself through the fight with the bear.
“I’ll challenge Indian wrestlers once I defeat the bear.”
Published in The Express Tribune, October 25th, 2013.