CWG 2018: Rahul Aware's father reached home just in time to see him win the gold

Rahul Aware's dad Balasaheb and mum Sharda (centre) celebrate his gold medal-winning feat at their home in Beed yesterday. Pic/Nanasaheb Didul

While Maharashtra-based wrestler Rahul Aware was grappling for gold at the Commonwealth Games at Gold Coast yesterday, back home in Beed district's Patoda region, his father and first coach, Balasaheb, was just about recovering from high blood pressure.

The night before Rahul stepped onto the mat in Gold Coast, his worried father had to be hospitalised due to hypertension. "Though it's Rahul who is competing at the CWG, I ended up taking all the pressure and tension. Wednesday night was very tough for me. I had to be rushed to hospital as my pressure shot up. Thankfully, the doctor managed to give me a discharge the next morning [9.30 am] and I was able to watch Rahul's gold medal-winning bout with all my wards at the Jai Hanuman Talim here," Balasaheb, 55, a former state champion, told mid-day yesterday.

Rahul Aware

Aware's current coach and Arjuna awardee Kaka Pawar said he was happy to see his ward finally overcome the injustice meted out to him before the Rio Olympics. Aware was denied the opportunity to represent India at the 2016 Rio Olympics after he pulled out of an international training camp claiming the Wrestling Federation of India was being partial towards another grappler. "Rahul went through a bad phase when he missed out on Rio, but he hung in there and worked even harder and thoroughly deserves this gold. I'm confident he can repeat this performance at the Asian Games and then at the Olympics," he said.

Also read: Wrestler Rahul Aware wins gold at Commonwealth Games 2018

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