India hails Olympic silver medallist Sushil Kumar

Moments after Sushil Kumar bagged a silver medal at the London 2012 Olympics on Sunday, the grappler's name became the buzzword in the nation. 29-year-old, Sushil, was awarded the silver in the men's 66kg freestyle wrestling, and became the first Indian to win two individual Olympic medals. He had already won the bronze in Beijing 2008.

Cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar tweeted: "Sushil has done us proud by winning India its second silver medal. We are proud of his dedication, commitment and effort. Well done Sushil!!"

M.C. Mary Kom, who became the first Indian female boxer to win an Olympic medal with a bronze in London, tweeted: "We are proud of you Sushil Kumar. You are Champion."

Another London Games bronze medallist, shuttler Saina Nehwal, said: "All Indians should be happy that we got six medals and I am delighted that I got one of them. For me, Sushil's silver is as good as a gold. This is going to be the best Independence Day."

Gagan Narang, who opened the account for India at the London Games by winning the bronze in men's 10-metre air rifle shooting, said: "This is a great show by Indian wrestling. Sushil has inspired a new generation of wrestlers. This time he has gone one step ahead and created history."

India's pace bowler Zaheer Khan tweeted," Well done #SushilKumar on winning silver medal in #Olympics2012."

Indian politicians were also not far behind in applauding the grappler. Apart from union Sports Minister Ajay Maken, who lauded Sushil's performance, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi also congratulated the 29-year-old.

"Sushil Kumar does India proud yet again by winning the Silver Medal at the Olympics. Heartiest congratulations to him!," Modi tweeted.

Leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj also tweeted, "Heartiest congratulations to Sushil for winning Olympic Silver medal for the country."