Return to the wrestling mat a fitting way to remember brother

Davinder Chatha, from Wombourne, will compete at the English Wrestling Championships in Slough on Saturday, to raise awareness of the Jet Singh Trust and inspire more youngsters to take up sports such as wrestling in the Commonwealth year.

The trust has been running charity events ever since Davinder's brother Jatinder passed away, aged 33, in 2016, using his nickname of Jet as the name of the charity, and running a mixed martial arts gym in Wombourne in his name.

Jatinder Singh Chatha was a multiple-time British champion and finished fourth in the 2002 Commonwealth Games in the 84kg Freestyle category.

Davinder, 45, said he had not competed in any type of competitive sport since suffering a number of injuries at the age of 23 while playing kabaddi, but had been getting ready to get back into something he had enjoyed success at.

He said: "I was British junior wrestling champion five times and the last time I competed, I won a silver medal in the senior British Championships when I was 18, then went on to play kabaddi for five years.

"I got some injuries in my knee, neck and shoulder and had a few operations, so made the decision to stop and focus on my education, which worked out as I now work as a physiotherapist and run my own business.

"Since Jet passed away, we have been been doing fundraising events, such as running 32 marathons, and as my thing is wrestling against mental health, I decided to get back into wrestling to raise funds."

Davinder said the training had been the hardest thing he had ever done, but had been a real benefit to him, as after six weeks of training twice a day, he had lost 8kg in weight and was feeling fitter and healthier than ever before.

He said the competition in Slough would be fierce, as he was competing against people looking to get into the England team for the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, but said he felt his biggest battle was just getting onto the mat.

"Once I get onto the mat, I will have beaten myself and that's my biggest achievement for this week," he said.

"Whether I win or lose after that is a different matter, but I have trained with some really good wrestlers and done a lot of fitness and strength training, so I'm not going to go in there and get beaten up."

As he prepares to compete in the 79kg category, Davinder said he was proud to be able to compete in memory of his brother, and said Jatinder would be looking down in pride.

He said: "I think he'd be really proud to see me at the English Championships as everyone knows him there, with all the old coaches and people who wrestled him and it brings the limelight back to him.

"I also want to motivate those who are struggling with their mental health, where most of whom who think it's all over due to their personal limitations, bad luck or any other personal factors.

"I want to help to motivate them to never give up and to keep fighting on in life with more self confidence and a positive brighter outlook and I think Jet would be very proud of me for doing this."

To find out more about the Jet Singh Trust, visit jetsinghtrust.org