The 1949 wrestling match |
Bholu Pahalwan versus Younus Gujranwalia |
|
After the Partition of India in 1947, the Gama wrestling family became part of Pakistan. Within a few months of the creation of Pakistan Bholu defeated Hussain Daftari and Ghulam Ghaus. During those days, another wrestler in the person of Younus Pahalwan of Gujranwala was trouncing all opposition and came face to face with the Great Gama's successor — The Bholu Pahalwan. This match created tremendous interest because the winner would be recognized as the first official champion of the new area. On 11th April 1948, Bholu Pahalwan had his first match with Younus Gujranwalia at Minto Park in Lahore. It could have been anyone's match as younus matched Bholu in all departments except speed. Bholu fought Younus at the Minto Park in Lahore. The winner would be recognized as champion of the new area. It could have been anyone's match because both wrestlers matched each other in all departments. Except that Bholu was more speedier then Younus. According to the eyewitnesses this Lahore match was a seat gripping brawl. Both wrestlers fought swiftly displaying quick reflexes, changing holds and applying maneuvers every moment. Bholu's performance was clearly excellent. After a terrific struggle that lasted 47 minutes, Bholu managed to pin the shoulders of his highly skilled adversary. He won the match but after this 1948 match, due to certain reasons, Younus refused to accept defeat and public demanded a rematch therefore in 1949, the Pakistani authorities organized a nation wide tournament to determine the official champion.
This wrestling match was fought between Younus
Pahalwan and Bholu Pahalwan for the 1949 Pakistani Championship.
Younus Pahalwan
a.k.a Younus Gujranwalia (Sitara-e-Pakistan) came from Gujranwala city"
The land of the wrestling Giants ".
He stood 6 feet tall and weighed above 400 pounds. While the Bholu Pahalwan
belonged to Gama Wrestling Family " The
house of ultimate wrestlers ".
He stood 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighed around 385 lbs., with a chest of 56"
and thighs which measure 36". This wrestling match was for the nomination of
Rustam-e-Pakistan was fought on
April 1949 in Polo
Ground, Karachi, Pakistan. This was the highest wrestling honor of Pakistan,
which was awarded to the best wrestler within the country. During those earlier
days, Pakistan was considered one of the wrestling strongholds in the world, and
the wrestling standard was very high. Therefore during those days, the Pakistani champion
was rated equivalent to a world
champion of the west.
More then 50 wrestlers from all parts of the country participated. A temporary mud-wrestling arena was built at the Polo Ground in Karachi for these wrestlers to test their skills. After a few months time Bholu and Younus were the only two to survive and once again faced each other. These two closely matched Giants clashed in Karachi, Pakistan, on April 17th 1949, for the first official championship title. A crowd of more then 100,000 spectators came from all parts of Pakistan to witness this grand finale for the Pakistani championship. Many of them arrived a week or two ahead in order to get good seats. Interest such as this was rarely seen in other parts of the world. The Chief Guest of the event Governor General of Pakistan, Khawaja Nazimuddin was himself present to award the Championship Mace to the winner of this historic bout. The Chief Guest arrived at 17.00 Hours and after a brief handshake with wrestlers the chief guest settle down at the front row of the VIP enclosure. Seated alongside with the Chief Guest were several important personalities including the Great Gama, his brother Imam Bux and Hamida Pahalwan.
The historical title match began around 17.30 Hrs. Major General Akbar Khan was the referee of this contest. According to the eyewitnesses Bholu dived into the arena like a lion. He was followed by a rather confident Younus Gujanwalia. The two mighty men entered the ring and came face to face with each other. They started walking around each other in circles . They circled each other warily for a minute or two, looking for an opportunity to break in. And then suddenly they were locked in a fierce battle. Both of them charged head on into each other with maximum thrust. They collided with a thud. Both wrestlers pushed against each other for a moment until both were consequently thrown backward with their own force. Simultaneously both of them immediately regained equilibrium and rushed again smashing into each other with ferocious intensity " like they were brick walls". They pushed against each other with great strength again but soon repelled backward. This collision occurred a number of times before finally Bholu found an opportunity and took the offensive. He grabbed Younus around his waistline and applied a bear hug (wrestling hold). And after a few seconds Bholu attempted to throw younus off balance. But Younus blocked the move and broke the momentum using his bodyweight as an advantage. Bholu was unable to topple the Gujranwala Giant to the ground. Younus immediately tried to break out of Bholu’s wrestling hold around his waistline. Bholu sensed the upcoming situation and within a second reversed his maneuver. He applied the bearhug on Younus from behind. Again he tried to hoist Younus in order to throw him off to the ground, but Younus broke the lifting motion using his bodyweight as an advantage. And then simultaneously tried to overthrow Bholu Pahalwan to the ground but did not quite succeeded as Bholu used his stocky leg as a leverage to break the momentum of jerk delivered by Younus. Neither of them intended to waste any time or strength on the other. Each was out to flatten the other as quickly and efficiently as possible. The most important title in the country was at stake - a truly historic title. Because it was the first time it had ever been contested.
Bholu did
not weaken his grip of Younus. Younus toiled under Bholu’s tremendous pressure
for a moment or two. He tried to force out and break free of Bholu's hold. But
Bholu was magnificent and had taken the offensive from the very start, forcing
the pace. He grabbed the wrestling trunks of Younus Pahalwan and tried to pull
him down to the muddy floor in order to overthrow him. Younus tried to free his
trunk but Bholu delivered a low blow kick to the legs of Younus Pahalwan, as a
leverage to throw him off balance or take him down. Younus countered but was so
busy protecting himself that he couldn't launch an offensive of his own. He was
struggling to break out of Bholu’s grip on his wrestling trunk and so he lost
his balance and went down in a revolving motion and landed face first into the
ground. Bholu did not loosen his grip and went down with him, landing directly
on top of him. Younus struggled to reverse the situation while Bholu tried to
pin his opponent using his wrestling trunk as a leverage. As a result all
pressure shifted on the wrestling trunks of Younus, due to which the strap of
the wrestler breeches broke away causing the trunk to loosen its grip on the
waistline of Younus Pahalwan. Bholu sited the situation and rapidly changed the
maneuver. He griped Younus through his waistline trying to overturn him in
order to obtain a pin fall.