Good Sports: Uttarpradesh Village Takes Pride in Famous Wrestler
Professional athletes have been known to switch sports, but few have transformed themselves as strikingly as Rinku Singh, the former minor league baseball pitcher who was depicted in the 2014 movie Million Dollar Arm.
Singh is now a 276-lb wrestler who goes by the ring name of Veer Mahaan. Competing in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), Singh portrays himself as a mythological character, with long hair, thick beard and “Tripundi” on his forehead.
His fame has brought pride to his home village of Gopiganj in the Bhadohi district of Uttar Pradesh.
“Finally, people are talking about Bhadohi because Veer Mahaan has hit the headlines,” a carpet worker named Noor Mohammad told IANS. “We were only known for carpets till now but now we have something else to boast about.”
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Compiled and partly written by Indian humorist MELVIN DURAI, author of the novel Bala Takes the Plunge.
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