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Wrestler Inam reveals the psychological master plan that helped him defeat Indian rival
Wrestler Muhammad Inam, who on Saturday became the only Pakistani athlete to bag a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games 2018, has revealed how he hatched a spontaneous psychological plan to tame Indian rival Somveer in the quarter-finals before going all the way.
In a series of videos made soon after his historic 3-0 victory over Nigeria's Bibo in the final, Inam recalled: "Somveer was already the pre-event favourite and on my way to the wrestling mat I noticed how Indian fans were outnumbering Pakistani fans. They were chanting 'India, India!' and cheering for their guy.
"This is when I changed my mindset. I told myself that all these people are not shouting 'India India' but are actually saying Inam, Inam!'"
Read: Wrestler Muhammad Inam bags first gold medal for Pakistan at Commonwealth Games
"It helped me become extra aggressive and win that fight. And once I had beaten the Indian guy I was sure that now I would not settle for anything less than gold."
Inam also talked about his dominating win over Bibo in the gold medal match, saying: "This guy (Bibo) is the African champions and currently world number two. But our team identified his weak areas and formulated a special plan, which I executed to perfection and won the gold medal for Pakistan."
For Inam, like any other wrestler, the ultimate target remains the Olympic Games — a dream he believes can be achieved if the government and relevant sports boards support local athletes.
"The athletes we compete against go through full four-year preparations for Olympics," said Inam. "Even the Indian athletes, when we talk to them, they tell us that as soon as an Olympic event ends they start preparing for the next one in foreign countries. An of course that four years of high-level training shows physically [and in their results]."
"The next Olympics is now two years away. I plead with the Pakistan government and the Pakistan Sports Board to please cooperate with us," he added.
Comments (83) Closed
Hats off to you. Hope Pakistani Government will listen to ypu and give you rewards for bringing laurels to Pakistan. Proud of you.
Congrats inam n pakistan for the stupendous performance. Your way of handling the pressure has a lesson in it for us all. Good job
Excellent show of Faith, Dedication, Hardwork, Discipline and Perseverance. Keep it up and hang on tough.
Inam, well done boy! Congratulations. But unfortunately your journey is over here because you will not get any support from the government for further proceedings. You are not th first or last whose fate is already known. People sitting in power corridors have their own priorities and such things they least bother.
Congratulations!!!!!
Congratulations and well done to you
Congratulations!!!!!!!
Do you know , how many got defeated by Indians in these games. Don't bring India in everything , there 73 nations playing these games.
By the way India so far have won 59
Gold 25, Silver 16, Bronze 18
Congratulations... wish both countries will bring more medals next time.
Way to go Inam, so proud of you
Congratulations, i wish both countries bring more medals next time
Pakistan government should provide funds to our athletes. They are our ambassadors who promote Pakistan's soft image. Well done boys!
i urge to pakistani government to provide proper traning to this budding new talent of pakistan.
Do u how many medals India wins
It is heartening to see both rivals standing hand in hand in the picture frame, that is how sports should be treated at the end of the day.
Relavant authorities should help him prepare for coming olympics.
Glory goes to you and to motherland.
Well done, Inam Inam Inam, keep it up now on for the Olympic.
Well done mate.. proud of you
Great stuff , Congratulations
Congrates from india this is a game anyone who plays will good ultimately will.win do not.make it battle field.
Congratulations!
@Deepak
Let us accept the final result gracefully and, let them enjoy this rare moment.
@Deepak "Do you know , how many got defeated by Indians in these games. Don't bring India in everything , there 73 nations playing these games"
You guys have a habit to bring Pakistan in every thing more than we do otherwise. Any ways congrats to both wrestlers
Thumbs up. Great exhibition of Smartness
@Ali Why goverment why don’t people come forward and sponsor him. If people spend millions on wedding they can do something productive instead wasting money on useless traditions.
Indian obsession has made Pakistan to look like this. Several Pakistani athletes were heavily beaten by Indians in the CWG, no Indian athlete claimed that Pakistani athletes motivated them to win. That’s difference between professional and impulsive behaviour. By the way India has already won 25 Golds, and 59 total medals. This number will increase tomorrow !!!!!
Hats off to you you made us proud thanks for the achievement
What a great win.
You make Pakistan proud.
Very well done Inam
Beating Indians at sports is the most exhilarating feeling on earth :)
To an outsider who doesn’t know these guys in the picture if you removed their tops you wouldn’t know who is Indian and who is Pakistani...
This is the reality but it’s a shame that despite sharing so much resemblance and history the countries are not the best of allies...
Sort out Kashmir and make South Asia like Europe
Congratulations from India.
Congrats Inam.. well played .. this is where Ind and Pak should actually compete..
bravo
Congratulations India (hope you read this as Inam as well)
The word "India" inspires Pakistanis.
And, I am glad that India provides such a great psychological boost.:):)
Congratulations and hope the Pak govt give you the support your require for greater success!
@Being Sensible .Congrats from Pak, the grandfather of Inam too, was an Indian. Hence people of both sides may celebrate.
Seriously, I thought there was some serious strategy. Fans chanting has nothing to do, the better player of the day won the match. Please try to highlight his victories in semifinal and finals rather than one victory in group stages. Obsession must end now.
Kudos Inam. With the right support, Pakistani athletes will leave the world far behind Inshallah
@Shahryar Shirazi be honest with yourself
Superb Inam! You did us all proud. Hope the government supports you in all future events. Well done again!
Congratulations. But why bring India into everything? Remember you beat Bibo to get Gold and he is NOT Indian.
So the master plan was to think everyone is chanting his name? For the other athletes the master plan could be to think they all won gold medal when they are on flight back home.
@Deepak Too little numbers given the size of world's second most populous nation.
Well done, and best of luck for future...
Congratulations Inam from India. Good job
Well done Inam, it’s a credit to you abd the team Pak.
Congratulations
He beat Indian to win gold. This is worth 100 gold medals for me
Congratulations dear,
But you spoke little too much.
Be humble,so that your excellence lasts little longer.
Congratulations brother.
Nice photograph! Do you realize that if uniforms were swapped, one couldn't tell the difference?!
Hats off to Inam for bringing glory to Pakistan , hope that GOP to reward this sportsman worth !
Only one gold ?
Congratulations to Pakistan on winning the gold....
And this is the 3rd best performance of India in Commonwealth Games
Today is the last day of the games and I don't think Canada can will 11 gold's to go past India to take the 3rd place
India's performance in Commonwealth Games... For the stats....
Most Gold at #Commonwealth Games for India 38 in 2010 (Delhi) 30 in 2002 (Manchester) 26* in 2018 (Gold Coast) 22 in 2006 (Melbourne) 15 in 2014 (Glasgow) 13 in 1990 (Auckland)
I guess we all can celebrate each other's success.... All the best to both nations in 2022
@Pakistan First one word "rivals" shows the mindset .
Well done big boy. Keep up the spirits.
@PrasadDeccani agree... but there is still a difference between professionalsm and behaviour.
Better player won. So that's all. Let us move further. India has won more than sixty medals, and 26 are Gold. In Badminton, two Indian players involved in final, one won Gold and the the other silver, this is a win-win situation.
@Dr. Salaria, Aamir Ahmad Yes with all that you have mentioned hopefully Pakistan will be able to go past India's medal tally. good Luck Doc.
Congratulations Inam and thanks for the victory. I appeal Pakistani government to help all young and brilliant men and women athletes like him to win more medals for us all. Bravo
Good to see that someone tried to think positive in a match between India - pak than negative . India is trailing at no. 3 with only 26 gold's, and had we won this and a badminton gold, we could have finished much better. But hats off to this boy.
@Sabir Destructive mindset.
The best aspect of winning is that, we can tell anything as the strategy or the hard work, and people will appreciate whatever it be. Anyway, congratulations on winning the gold!!
Bravo, you r the hero N pride for whole nation.
Wrestling runs as tradition in both countries.Shows how much common there is at the root level.
So happy to see this.... Stay blessed
@Ali really?
@ROHIT PANDEY & Deepak, all indian readers of this article have poor stereotype thinking.
Inam needed motivation by fans which he wasn't getting from Crowed so he pretended that sound of india india is inam inam
The picture says all.
@Deepak hahaha.. dude, take it easy. Indians lose a lot, that's normal!
@Intelignt dude, India has over a billion population, you should be winning olympics but you don't, so don't show off when you are really pretty pathetic in sports.
@Bibek How many Olympics? let's talk about real games!
@ALI Savor these rarest of rare moments..
Hearty Congrats..but fail to understand why India has to be mentioned.. .Both countries are in different leagues alltogether..hardly any comaparision
Congrats Pakistan.Big Day !
Well done!! Many congrats Inam ji.. Hope you are an inspiration to many more young and upcoming athletes in Pakistan...
"Inam, Inam!" Congrats to you and of course my Pakistani friends
Congratulations to Inam for getting Pakistan a gold medal. You, sir, denied India a gold medal because you eventually proved to be a better man than any other competitors . Believe me we in India are happy for you & Pakistan . Good luck .
First of all, Congrats Man! You are star for us all. Your story must be shared and celebrated regarding your fight with that Indian opponent.
Congrats brother keep up the good work.
@Intelignt Pakistan obsession of India is also the same as Indo obsession for Pak. Both do it look without thinking your Indian or Pakistan and you will see we both do it only few will see since they are drowned under patriotic fevers.
IndoPak Blood Brothers 4 Life!
congratulation Inam for winning gold for your country.