Satyawart Kadian

Kadian's first major medal at an international event was when he won the bronze medal in the boys' freestyle 100 kg category at the debut Youth Olympics in Singapore, announcing himself to the Indian wrestling community and to the world.[2]

Kadian rose to prominence in the 2013 World Youth Wrestling Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria when he became the only Indian wrestler to return home with a medal, albeit the bronze one. It was a tough road for the Indian to the semis, having beaten an Iranian and a Kazakh to line up against Viktor Kazishvili of the United States of America. The young wrestler was unable to overcome the American and came up against Ali Bonceoglu of Turkey in the bronze medal match where he succeeded in overcoming the wily Turkish wrestler.

Battling an ankle injury during the semi-final and bronze medal bouts, Kadian said his motivation to win a meal was the lean returns from the wrestling contingent. "The first few days were not good for us. We didn't win a medal in freestyle and Greco-Roman. I wanted to end this barren spell and win a medal at any cost. After the first round I felt in good form. In the bronze-medal match I desperately wanted to register a victory," said the 18 year old in an interview with the Times of India.

In the build-up to the tournament, Kadian trained with Olympic medallists Sushil Kumar and Yogeshwar Dutt at the senior national wrestling camp in Sonepat. Raj Singh, secretary general of the Wrestling Federation of India (at that time) attributed Kadian's success in Sofia to his eagerness to learn and easy interaction with senior wrestlers.[3]

Kadian's first foray into the senior wrestling team earned him immediate rewards. His Round of 16 match-up was against Umidjon Ismanov of Uzbekistan whom he beat 7-3 in the first period itself. He then lost to Magomed Musaev of Kyrgyzstan 3-0 but qualified for the repechage round to face Chanuk Yook of South Korea whom he beat 7-0 in a thumping contest. In the bronze medal match, he was able to overcome Alihan Djumaev of Kazakhstan and won the bronze medal, beating the Kazakh grappler 6-6, with the Indian winning because of last point scored.[2]

Competing in the 97 kg weight class, Kadian's first opponent was Manjula Uduwila Arachchige of Sri Lanka, beating him 4-0 in the Round of 16. He faced Soso Tamarau of Nigeria in the quarter-finals and won 3-1 in a close match. Reaching the semi-finals, Kadian was up against home favourite Leon Rattigan of England whom he closed out with an easy 3-1 win. The finals bout was an exciting clash against Arjun Gill of Canada where the Indian disappointingly lost 1-3 to settle for the silver medal.[4]

Kadian continued to compete in the 97 kg weight class and began his Asian Games campaign with a match-up against Magomed Musaev of Kyrgyzstan, losing 1-3 in the first round itself. He was able to redeem himself in the repêchage round, beating his opponent Bilal Hussain Awad of Pakistan 4-0 there. That pushed him into the bronze medal match where he lost 3-0 to Mamed Ibragimov of Kazakhstan.[5]

In honour of the Indian festival of Navratri, the 1st Rustam-e-International tournament was held in Katra, Jammu and ended on 22 October 2015. Participants from England, Belarus and Ukraine competed in the tournament which took place in the Vivekanand Stadium in Katra.[6]

Kadian was the 3rd Indian wrestler taking part in the tournament along with Binia Bin and Parvindra. The latter wrestlers beat Ukrainian wrestler Myhailo Datsenko and English wrestler Leon Rattigan respectively, whom Kadian had beaten last year at the 2014 Commonwealth Games. The 21 year old won the title along with a cash prize, a trophy belt and a medal, beating Belarusian wrestler Ihor Didyk.