Black Country wrestling star becomes champion of Britain
A wrestler who has been training since the age of four has won a British Championship in his weight category and is now dreaming of gold at next year's Olympics.
Chinu Sidhu said he was 'always' going to wrestle after following in his grandfather's and father's footsteps - who were keen wrestlers - as a youngster in India.
He had his first taste of glory as a seven-year-old, winning in the district championships.
Moving to the UK when he was around 14, Chinu won both the junior and senior competition for his age group at 16 and on Saturday October 24 won the 2015 British Championship in the 125kg freestyle, which was held at Aldersley Leisure Centre, Wolverhampton.
Chinu competed in two bouts, where he overcame his opponents in less than six minutes altogether.
He previously won a bronze medal at last year's Commonwealth Games, losing to the eventual gold medal winner.
Now the full time wrestler will compete in the qualifying rounds at the end of this month in a bid to reach the Olympics in Brazil next year.
Chinu, aged 28 from Oldbury, said: "I'm over the moon to have won this championship. Achieving something like this helps you grow in confidence and makes you more determined to go on and achieve more in this sport.
"It's 24/7 thing for me, I never switch off. I won the championship on Saturday and I was back training on Sunday morning. That's the work ethic I've been brought up with.
"I would love to compete in the Olympics, it would be a dream come true.
"I'm striving for a gold medal but Brazil next year might just be out of reach, we'll have to see how I get on in the qualifiers. I'd definitely be looking to compete again in the Commonwealth Games.
"Up until this point though I couldn't thank my dad, Paramjit, enough.
"He has been my coach, trainer and biggest fan since I was little and I couldn't have done this without him.
"Also Fearless MMA gym have helped me massively. I've been training there for about 18 months and they will push me to hit my peak in the next two to three years. Bring it on."
