After getting to know about any competition or championship whether it is at a global level or even at a small level, every Indian wishes that the victory must lie in their court. When we talk about wrestling many renowned names pops up in our mind such as Sushil Kumar, Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik, Babita Kumari etc. India has won many medals in World Wrestling Championships that started in 1904 and have become combined event since 2005. Even India hosted the Men’s Freestyle World Championship in 1967 at New Delhi.
Udey Chand is a retired Indian wrestler and wrestling coach who was the first individual world championship medal winner from Independent India. He won a bronze medal in 1961 in Men’s FS 67 Kg.
In 1967, Bishambar Singh won a silver medal in Men’s FS 57 Kg. He is a retired Indian bantamweight wrestler and has also won a gold medal at Commonwealth Games in 1966.
In 2006, Alka Tomar won a bronze medal in Women’s FS 55 Kg.
Ramesh Kumar won a bronze medal in Men’s FS 74 Kg in 2009.
In 2010, Sushil Kumar Solanki won a gold medal in Men’s FS 66 Kg
Babita Kumari won a bronze medal at the 2012 World Wrestling Championships, in FS 51 Kg.
Following the steps of her sister, Geeta Phogat won a bronze medal in Women’s FS 55 Kg.
In 2013, Bajrang Punia won bronze medal in Men’s FS 60 Kg.
Amit Kumar Dahiya won a silver medal in Men’s FS 55 Kg in 2013.
2013, can be said a golden year for Indian wrestlers as many wrestlers won medals, Sandeep Tulsi Yadav won a bronze medal in Men’s GR 66 Kg.
In 2015, Narsingh Parnham Yadav won a bronze medal in Men’s FS 74 Kg.
In 2018, Pooja Dhanda won a bronze medal in Women’s FS 57 Kg and Bajrang Punia won a silver medal in Men’s FS 65 Kg.
Deepak Punia became 1st Indian junior world champion in 18 years, he defeated Russia’s Alik Shebzukov and won the title of 86kg junior freestyle title. He missed out a bronze medal in the junior world in 2017. India returned with three medals from Junior World Wrestling Championships, Sachin Rana was defeated in a round in Greco Roman competition, whereas Sajan Bhanwal won a bronze and Viky also won a bronze.
The UWW Senior World Wrestling Championship is all set to start on 14th September in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan. It will draw much attention as it will serve as the first qualification event for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. The top six finishers in each Olympic weight category in Nur-Sultan will secure Olympic qualification for their nations.
Indian wrestling Team is all prepared and set to get a lot of medals to India. The freestyle wrestling team includes Ravi Kumar, Rahul Aware, Bajrang, Karan, Sushil Kumar, Veer Dev Gulia/ Jitender, Deepak Punia, Parveen, Mauram Khatri, Sumit, etc. Whereas Greco-Roman wrestling team includes Manjeet, Manish, Sagar, Yogesh, Gurpreet Singh, Harpreet Singh, Sunil Kumar, Ravi, and Naveen. There is also a category of women’s wrestling which includes Sakshi Malik, Navjot Kaur, Divya Kakran, Komal Bhagwan Gole, Kiran, Vinesh, Lalita, Sarita, Pooja Dhanda, Seema, etc.
Hope that our stars will bring a lot of medals and pride to their country. We wish them all the luck!
