How a knee injury sent Nitesh Siwach from the akhara to Greco-Roman glory

Nitesh Siwach’s journey from a knee injury to Asia Games Greco-Roman final signals India’s rising wrestling potential and perseverance. | Photo Credit: AP

In Gali Number 5 of Tehsil Camp, Panipat, in the heart of Haryana, sits a tiny 25 sq. mt. dairy shop with a big reputation. At first glance, it can easily be overlooked. The signboard is a blank sheet of metal, but proprietor Anand Siwach insists Tinku Dairy doesn’t need to advertise itself.

Even in Haryana, a state synonymous with doodh and dahi, Anand Siwach vouches for his product. “We sell milk, curd, ghee and paneer. We get only the best milk from farmers. Six per cent fat at least. Hamare yahan Tinku Dairy mashoor hai. Hum paani nahi milate. (In our area, Tinku Dairy has a reputation. Only the best stuff. We don’t mix water in our milk),” he says.

Even in Haryana, a state synonymous with wrestling, Anand Siwach’s son Nitesh has earned a reputation that speaks for itself.

Although the 23-year-old was beaten in the final of the men’s 97kg Greco-Roman category at the Asian Games in Nagoya, he made history simply by reaching the final, becoming the first Indian in 64 years to do so in a discipline that is often overlooked in favour of freestyle wrestling in India.

The final against Japan’s Yuri Nakazato — a former U-23 World bronze medallist — did not go the way he wanted as he fell 4-0. | Photo Credit: AP

On Thursday at the Nagoya City Inae Sports Center, Nitesh first beat Turkmenistan’s Amanberdi Agamammedov. Then, in the semifinals, he trounced Mongolia’s Gankhuyag Ganbaatar — a former Asian Games bronze medallist — 9-0 by technical superiority. The final against Japan’s Yuri Nakazato — a former U-23 World bronze medallist — did not go the way he wanted as he fell 4-0.

“I’m very happy that I got to the final. I could have done more. But I think I’ve proved something about Greco-Roman wrestling in India with this silver,” he says.

It may not have been certain that Nitesh would enter the history books in Nagoya, but it was inevitable that he would take up wrestling as a career.

Nearly everyone in the village of Jagsi, where Nitesh was born and raised, does.

“ Samajh lo har ghar ke darwaze pe langot hai. (There’s a loincloth at every door),” says Anand.

Anand didn’t wrestle at any high level himself, but he admired those who did. They were a mixture of dangal (mud) and mat wrestlers. All of them wrestled freestyle, though.

Siwach’s family runs a dairy shop in Panipat. “ Hamare yahan Tinku Dairy mashoor hai. Hum paani nahi milate,” Nitesh’s father Anand declares. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Across India, most wrestlers overwhelmingly gravitate towards freestyle, where attacks can be made against any part of the body, in contrast to Greco-Roman, where attacks below the waist are prohibited.

The reason for this popularity has much to do with traditional dangal wrestling, which has deep roots in India’s wrestling culture. Greco-Roman, by contrast, is seen as an import with little popular appeal. One reason is that dangal bouts, where participants can routinely earn lakhs of rupees for a single bout, are contested under freestyle rules. That popularity has also translated to greater international success: India has won 13 world medals in men’s freestyle, compared with just one in Greco-Roman.

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Nitesh, who first went to the neighbourhood akhara in Jagsi when he was barely able to walk, learned to wrestle this way. He competed in both mud and mat wrestling until he was 15, when he suffered a serious injury to his left knee during training.

“ Poore ghutne mein paani bhar gaya (my whole knee was swollen with liquid),” Anand recalls. Ligament tears are a common issue with freestyle wrestling where it is permitted to twist and tangle lower limbs.

Nitesh eventually underwent surgery to repair the damaged knee, but his recovery was slow. While he couldn’t wrestle as he healed, he did what he had always done — helping out in his father’s dairy business.

Tinku Dairy doesn’t own its own cattle. They buy milk from farmers and then sell it on to bigger shops and individual customers. Nitesh would accompany his father on these routes.

“We used to go from 5am to Panipat, which is 40 kilometres away from my village, and return at 5pm in the evening,” he says.

For two years, Nitesh followed this schedule as he gingerly made his way back to training.

“ Ek saal woh doodh bechta tha aur shaam ko thodi wrestling ki taiyaari karta tha (for one year he would sell milk and then prepare to wrestle),” Anand says.

Although he loved the sport, Anand advised his son not to return.

“I told him to study or do something else, but by then he had started to love the sport,” he says.

But if Nitesh was to go back to wrestling, he couldn’t wrestle freestyle again. The risk to his knee was too much. No traditional akhara taught the alternative, so Nitesh moved to Pratap Sports School in Kharkhoda, one of the state’s prominent wrestling schools, where he trained under coach Om Prakash Dahiya.

“There they motivated me a lot. They said you can win the World Championships,” he says.

For all the belief his coaches had in him, Anand had no great expectations from his son.

“I didn’t know too much about Greco-Roman. But one day Nitesh won a zila (district) tournament in Sonepat. I know that Sonepat is very strong in wrestling, so I thought that there must be some good qualities in Nitesh too,” he says.

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While he didn’t understand the technicalities of the sport, Anand did what he could to support his son.

“He was in a residential school, so I sent him money. I also brought him milk and ghee every day so that he would get big and strong,” he says.

Nitesh’s father doesn’t understand the technicalities of the sport but he has gone all out to support his son. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Nitesh stuck to Greco-Roman wrestling even when the heavyweight wrestlers around him competed in dangals and earned piles of money. He kept his eye on the mat. Home visits dropped off.

“ Ghar aata hi nahi ab. He only cares about wrestling,” says Anand.

Nitesh progressed from the zila level. He won a junior state title in Haryana and then nationals. He made his first Indian team in 2018 as a cadet (U-17 level) and won an Asian silver in the same age group the following year. Three years later, he won his first world medal — bronze at the U-23 World Championships. In 2025, he won his first senior medal — bronze at the Asian Championships.

But no medal matters as much as the Asian Games silver.

Nitesh knows he could have done more.

“I could have won the gold medal. But I have shortcomings. I have to work on them,” he says.

And although he scored no points in the final, the Japanese wrestler gave the Indian credit for a tough fight. Nakazato had scored more points against every other opponent than Nitesh. Over the course of the match, there were only two scoring movements — a stepout and a takedown towards the end of the match. The only other point came from a passivity call against Nitesh as the two wrestlers jostled for position.

Nakazato said he even hurt himself while trying to stop Nitesh.

“The Indian wrestler’s power was so immense that I injured my knee. The Indian players are incredibly strong. So I didn’t think I could win,” he told Japanese reporters.

For the Indian, the Asian Games medal is only the first step.

“I want to do well at the World Championships. Next year we have the Olympic qualifiers. I want to compete in the Olympics and medal there as well,” he says.

That’s for the future. For now, even this silver is proof that, just like the product at Tinku Dairy, Nitesh Siwach is nothing less than the real deal.