Revision as of 07:44, 19 December 2017

Indian achievers at World Championships

1967-2013

1967 New Delhi:

Bishamber Singh (57kg silver)

2009 Denmark:

Ramesh Kumar (74kg bronze)

2010 Moscow:

Sushil Kumar (66kg gold)

2012 Canada:

Geeta Phogat (55kg bronze),

Babita Kumari (51kg bronze)

2013 Budapest:

Amit Kumar (55kg silver),

Bajrang (60kg bronze),

Sandeep Tulsi Yadav (66kg bronze)

Greco-Roman wrestling in India

Sandeep's bronze gives hope to ignored Greco-Roman

Ritu Sejwal, TNN | Sep 24, 2013

Greco-Roman is backed by a rich history in the Olympics, being the first style to be introduced in 1896 Athens Olympics. In India, where akharas are the heart of the sport and dangals its soul, Greco-Roman, also referred to as the European style, is yet to cement its place in the country.

Sandeep Tulsi Yadav's bronze medal at Budapest in Sept 2013 was the first in World championship for India in Greco-Roman wrestling.

Gyan Sehrawat, a Greco-Roman chief coach from 1996-2006, feels Yadav's medal will give a boost to this style. "The medal will change the psychology from just participating to winning medals, at least in the Olympics and World championships. Most of the talent in India gets attracted to freestyle. Greco requires upper body strength and flexibility and is more popular worldwide," Sehrawat, who is the chief coach and a sports officer with the Northern Railways, told TOI.

"This style is not practised at any club in India. It was as late as 1986 that a separate Greco team was selected. Till then, the freestyle team would participate in both the styles," he added.

Gyan himself participated as a freestyle grappler in 1982 Asian Games and as a Greco grappler in his next Asian Games in 1986.

"Even now, 99% of the coaches in India are not familiar with Greco techniques. Even the National Sports Institute in Patiala's curriculum for coaches focuses on freestyle. Indian wrestling is to do with mitti and that's why freestyle is more popular," he said. "There is only one tournament in a year dedicated to Greco," he pointed out.

Foreign coaches

Indian wrestling's lone entry at the Sydney Olympics, Gurbinder Singh, holds the system responsible for the style's lack of popularity. "We spend so much money on getting foreign coaches for Greco-Roman but they don't train our wrestlers properly and never tell then their weaknesses. All they do is teach a technique and then say 'you know nothing'. There is no dearth of diet, money and promotion. It's the system which is a problem," Gurbinder, became a DSP with Punjab police, said.

Belarus' Rudnisky was Greco-Roman's first foreign coach. There have been only three foreign coaches - including the current coach Georgia's Emzar Makharadze - since then while freestyle has had more than seven coaches. "It was in 1987, when we got our first foreign coach. It was under him that a separate Greco camp and national meet was organized. There is only one akhara in Faridkot dedicated to Greco-Roman, the ones in Delhi and Haryana practice freestyle," Gurbinder said.

Gurbinder said about Sandeep’s triumph: "The change in rule has favoured the Indians, who are used to 'standing wrestling' due to the weather. Earlier there was more ground style which would benefit the Russians."

2015

Pro Wrestling League auction

The Times of India, November 4, 2015

Successful bids at Pro Wrestling League’s auction, 2015; Graphic courtesy: The Times of India, November 4, 2015

Ritu Sejwal

Dutt top Indian pick in wrestling auction

The wrestling fraternity joined the league bandwagon with over 50 Indian and international grapplers put up for auction for six franchises in the capital. London Olympics bronze medalist Yogeshwar Dutt emerged the highest-paid Indian while 2015 World Championship gold medalist Oksana Herhel of Ukraine was the top international draw in the auction for the Pro Wrestling League. Yogeshwar and Oksana were picked by Haryana for Rs 39.70 lakh and Rs 41.30 lakh, respectively. Two-time Olympic medalist Sushil Kumar, who got the secondhighest bid after Yogeshwar, went to Uttar Pradesh for Rs 38.20 lakh.Belarus' Vasilisa Marzaliuk (69kg), with base price of Rs 23 lakh, was a surprise pick by Punjab as she earned Rs 40.20 lakh.

Sushil Kumar, Yogeshwar Dutt, Narsingh Yadav, Geeta Phogat, Sofia Mattison and Adeline Gray were the icon players whose base price was Rs 33 lakh.

“I had not given the auction much thought but I am happy it went well. Wrestling league will change the way people look at the sport and bring more popularity .Youngsters will benefit and new champions will emerge,“ Yogesh war told TOI on Tuesday .

“After Beijing and London Olympics, a lot of young kids have taken to wrestling. But many still think wrestling is a village sport and I am sure this (league) will change that mindset. Wrestlers who come from weak financial backgrounds will be able to use this money for better training and diet,“ he added. When asked about getting a winning bid more than Sushil Kumar, Yogeshwar said, “May be they liked me. I always wanted to go to Haryana.“

A total of 54 wrestlers were purchased by six franchises, with price purse of Rs 2 crore each, including Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Uttar Pradesh.Each team consists of nine players including five Indians and four international players. Haryana were the biggest spenders with Rs 1.96 crore, followed by Punjab who spent Rs 1.85 crore.

In the tournament, to be held from December 10-27, each team will be allowed to field five Indians and four international players, including five men and four women.

World Championship bronze medalist Narsingh Yadav, who went to Bengaluru, earned the third highest bid for an Indian at Rs 34.50 lakh while Geeta Phogat was picked by Punjab for Rs 33 lakh. Her sister Babita, with base price of Rs 23 lakh, and Vinesh, with base price of Rs 20 lakh, were picked by UP and Delhi for Rs 34.10 lakh and Rs 29.70 lakh, respectively . Geetika Jakhar (69kg) went home at her base price of Rs 10 lakh.

World Championship bronze medalist Bajrang, whose base price was Rs 23 lakh, was purchased by Bengaluru for Rs 29.50 lakh.

“The league will help us prepare better for Olympic qualification. By competing against and watching experienced wrestlers, we will have a better understanding of attack and defence, and it will help us improve our technique,“ said Bajrang.

2016

United World Wrestling rankings

Sep 13 2016: in the men's freestyle category , Sandeep Tomar was placed at 15th position in the UWW (United World Wrestling) rankings.

Sep 13 2016 Bajrang Punia made it to the top-20 list in the UWW (United World Wrestling) rankings.

2017

Asian Wrestling Championship

Sayantan Maitra | IBTimes, Bajrang ends India's gold drought in Asian wrestling| May 14 2017 | PTI, Silver for Sumit; 10 medals for India May 15 2017 : PTI

India finished 5th (behind Japan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan) and China, with 9 medals, 9th. No other South Asian country was among the 11 medal winning countries.

Bajrang Punia gave India its first gold medal as he registered a come-frombehind 6-2 victory over Seungchul Lee of South Korea in men's 65kg freestyle at the Asian Wrestling Championship. The 23-year-old Bajrang conceded two points in the opening half to trail 0-2 at the break. However, the Indian made a strong comeback in the second half, not allowing his rival from Korea to earn any more points. He first pushed his opponent out of the mat to take a point and then took the Korean down for two more to lead 3-2. Bajrang then went into the attack, not allowing his rival to come back into the contest.

Harpreet Singh emerged as the only shining star for India on the opening day of the Asian Wrestling Championship here in the Capital on Wednesday .Harpreet bagged a bronze medal in the Greco-Roman 80 kg category by beating China's Junjie Na by a 3-2 margin.

Anil Kumar and Jyoti brought home two more medals. They both bagged bronze medals in their respective categories. In a closely fought contest, Anil beat Muhammadali Shamsiddinov of Uzbekistan 7-6 in the men's Greco-Roman 85kg category while Jyoti finished on the podium in women's 75kg event.

Sarita won a silver medal in women's 58kg category . She lost 0-6 to Aisuluu Tynybekova of Kyrgyzstan in the final. Gold medal eluded the Indian women wrestlers even though this was their bestever performance in the Asian Championship. They finished second in the championship behind Japan with six medals, including four silver and two bronze.

India finished their Asian Wrestling Championship campaign on a resounding note with Sumit winning a silver medal in the 125 kg category on the concluding day of the continental event. Sumit went down to Yadollah Mohammadkazem Mohebi of Iran in men's 125kg freestyle gold medal bout on the final day of the competition here.

The Indian wrestlers finished with 10 medals, including a gold, five silver and four bronze, bettering their tally of nine medals in the last edition of the Championship at Bangkok.

India's medal winners:

Men's freestyle

GOLD - Bajrang Punia (65 kg)

SILVER - Sumit (125 kg)

BRONZE – None

Men's Greco-Roman

GOLD – None

SILVER – None

BRONZE - Harpreet Singh (80 kg), Anil Kumar (85 kg)

Women's wrestling

GOLD – None

SILVER - Sakshi Malik (60 kg), Divya Kakran (69 kg), Vinesh Phogat (55 kg), Sarita (58 kg)

BRONZE - Ritu Phogat (48 kg), Jyoti (75 kg)

Asian cadet championships: 23 medals

India strikes it rich, July 25, 2017: The Hindu

India ended its campaign at the Asian cadet wrestling championships in Bangkok with a rich haul of 23 medals, including five golds, according to information received.

Four of the golds were won by men while Tina was the lone woman gold medallist, winning in the 65 kg category.

The medallists:

Gold: Akash Dahiya (58kg freestyle), Praveen Malik (76kg freestyle), Arshad (42kg Greco-Roman), Mohit (85kg Greco-Roman), Tina (65kg women); Silver: Naveen (54kg freestyle), Simran (40kg women); Bronze: Praveen (46kg freestyle), Rohit (63kg freestyle), Vishal (69kg freestyle), Sandeep (85kg freestyle), Srikant (50kg Greco-Roman), Bapu Kohlekar (54kg Greco-Roman); Ashu (69kg Greco-Roman), Sanjit (76kg Greco-Roman).

Deepanshu (100kg Greco-Roman), Neha (38kg women), Sanju 43kg women), Nisha (46kg women), Anju (49kg women), Sonam (56kg women), Anshu (60kg women), Karuna (70kg women).

World U-23 Championship: Historic double-silver

Hindol Basu, Historic double-silver in wrestling, November 28, 2017: The Times of India

Haryana U-23 Grapplers Bajrang & Vinod Do Country Proud In Worlds

With Sushil Kumar and Yogeshwar Dutt’s careers entering the final stretch, the big question is: who will be the flagbearers of Indian men’s wrestling in the coming times? A certain 23-year-old, lithely built man from Khudan village in Jhajjar, Haryana, has put his hands up.

Experts consider Bajrang Punia to be the ‘next big thing’ in Indian men’s freestyle wrestling, and Punia justied that tag on Sunday, winning silver in the 65kg category of the World U-23 Senior Wrestling Championship being held in Bydgoszcz, Poland. There was more joy for India on the day, as another Haryana wrestler, Vinod Omprakash, who hails from Jind, also won silver (in 70kg freestyle category).

Punia and Omprakash created history, as India has won three silver medals in a world championship for the first time. Ritu Phogat had won silver in the women’s 48kg weight class on Saturday. This performance bettered the one silver and two bronze that the country had won in the 2013 World Wrestling Championship in Budapest, Hungary.

While Punia lost his final to Russia’s Nachyn Sergeevitch Kuular by a 6-17 margin, Omprakash came second best to USA’s Richard Lewis 1-3 over the two rounds.

“I am disappointed to have missed out on the gold medal. Everyone remembers the champion,” Punia told TOI from Bydgoszcz, Poland. In the pre-quarters, Punia hammered Panah Ilyasli of Azerbaijan 5-0, before coming out on top against Heydar Yavuz of Turkey 7-5 in the quarterfinals.

The semifinal, against junior world championship bronze medallist Younes Emamichoghaei of Iran, was tough. Emam took a 2-0 lead very early in the contest but the Indian bounced back and brought things on level terms with a couple of takedowns. Going into the final few minutes of the bout, both wrestlers were tied at 4-4. “I moved a lot and played a counter-attacking game in the final few minutes and that paid off,” said Punia. He won by a 9-4 margin.

“I have to work a lot on my stamina if I have to become the champion. I matched the Russian wrestler (in the final) and gave him a tough fight in the first round, but lost steam towards the end and he managed to widen the gap between us,” Punia reflected over his loss in the final.

Punia earlier trained at the Chhatrasal Stadium in Delhi under Dronacharya awardee Ramphal Maan. When Maan moved to Sonipat in 2014, Punia left Chhatrasal and joined Maan. Olympic medallist Yogeshwar Dutt considers Punia to be his protégé and now the 23-year-old trains at Dutt’s wrestling academy in Gohana, Sonipat, still under Maan.

The coach said Punia could have won a medal at the senior Worlds in Paris in August earlier this year, but lost out since the Indian wrestlers “did not get proper diet” in Paris. India did not win a single medal in that championship.

“This time, though, I made sure that Bajrang went to Poland just two days before his match day, not like the Paris Worlds when he went early and did not get the diet he requires. Ek pehelwaan ko uski khuraak bahut zaroori hoti hai (For a wrestler, diet is of utmost importance). I gave him packed homemade food for his entire stay in Poland. The chapatis were augmented with milk in it and we gave him the food that gives him strength. That’s why, he could wrestle with a free mind in Poland,” Maan disclosed.

Omprakash, an employee of the Services, currently trains at the Army Sports Institute in Pune. He received his early training at the Mehar Singh Akhada in Rohtak.

WFI secretary, Vinod Tomar congratulated Punia, Omprakash and Ritu for their achievements. “Some people were hell bent on writing off Indian wrestling. But we have bounced back strongly and made a statement with this kind of performance at a world meet. More young wrestlers are coming up the ranks and I am sure they’ll bring further laurels to the nation,” said Tomar.

December 2017, Commonwealth Wrestling Championship/ 59 medals

December 18, 2017: The Times of India

Sakshi Triumphs Too As India Finish With 29 Gold In CW Wrestling

Double Olympic medallist SushilKumar made a glorious return to the international arena by clinching a gold as India won an impressive 59 medals at the Commonwealth Wrestling Championships in Johannesburg.

The other gold medals winners for India were Utkarsh Kale (57kg), Sharvan (61kg), Bajrang (65kg), Amit Dhankar (70kg), Jitender (79kg), Deepak (86kg), Somveer (92kg), Rubaljeet Singh (97kg) and Hitender (125kg).

Besides Sushil, Another Olympic medallist, Sakshi Malik, who won a bronze in the 2016 Rio Games, also clinched a gold medal in the championships. Sakshi defeated New Zealand's Tayla Tuahine Ford by a score of 13-2 in the final of the 62kg women's freestyle category to add another yellow metal for India.

The freestyle wrestling team won 10 gold, seven silver and two bronze medals on Sunday as India returned with a total of 29 gold, 24 silver and 6 bronze from the championships.

Earlier in the day returning to international wrestling after more than three years, Sushil defeated New Zealand Akash Khullar's via a pinfall in the final of the 74kg freestylecategory toclinchthe yellow metal. It was his first medal in international wrestling since his gold medal in the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

Sushil returned to competitive wrestling in November at the Senior Nationals in Indore where he won a gold medal amid controversy after getting three walkovers from his fellow wrestlers.

Incidentally, it was Praveen Rana who gave him a walkover in the title clash in Indore, but the duo wrestled this time and Sushil came out on top with a 5-4 victory margin here. In his first bout, Sushil defeated Johannes Petrus Botha of South Africa 8-0 followed by thewin over Rana. Sushil alsobeat Jasmit Singh Phulka of Canada by fall en route his gold medal.

Achievements, in brief

December 18, 2017: The Statesman

December 16, 2017: The Indian Express

Gold medal winners: 55 kg. Rajender Kumar, 60 kg. Manish, 63 kg. Vikas, 67 kg. Anil Kumar, 72 kg. Aditya Kundu, 77 kg. Gurpreet, 82 kg. Harpreet, 87 kg. Sunil, 97 kg. Hardeep, 130 kg. Naveen.

Silver medallists: 55 kg. Naveen, 60 kg. Gyanender, 63 kg. Gaurav Sharma, 67 kg. Manish, 72 kg. Kuldeep Malik, 77 kg. Manjeet, 82 kg. Amarnath, 87 kg. Prabhpal Singh, 97 kg. Sumit, 130 kg. Sonu.

Emerging Indian star Parveen Rana got the bronze in the 74kg category, beating Johannes Petrus Botha of South Africa in the play-off for the third place.

Sakshi Malik, the only Indian female grappler to clinch an Olympic medal, also bagged a gold medal. The Rio Olympics silver medallist defeated New Zealand’s Tayla Tuahine Ford 13-2 in the final of the women’s 62kg category.

The Indians dominated most of the weight categories in the men’s freestyle with Bajrang (65kg), Jitender (79kg) and Sumit (125kg) also winning gold in their respective events. Hitender (125kg), Somveer (92kg) and Jitender (79kg) had to be content with bronze medals.

The Indian women also imposed total domination in the competition, winning gold in each of the 10 weight categories.

Apart from Malik, Kiran (72kg), Divya Kakran (68kg) and Ritu Malik (65kg) emerged champions in their respective categories on Sunday while Pooja (76kg) and Ravita (59kg) finished with silver medals. Kavita (76kg) and Manu Tomar (72kg) took bronze.

“The best thing is that Indian wrestlers were involved in a strong competition after a long time. Wrestlers from Nigeria, Australia, Canada and New Zealand are really strong, both technically and physically, specially in the middle weight categories like the 74kg and 86kg,” he said.

See also

Sakshi Malik

Vinesh Phogat