All posts tagged: Wrestling India

Vinesh Phogat’s Asian Games hopes end after semifinal defeat at Selection Trials

Vinesh Phogat’s Asian Games hopes end after semifinal defeat at Selection Trials

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Vinesh Phogat saw her hopes of representing India at the upcoming Asian Games 2026 come to an end after suffering a semifinal defeat in the women’s 53kg selection trials on Saturday. The two-time World Championships medallist had returned to competition amid significant controversy surrounding her eligibility and weight category. However, her comeback bid ended before the final, effectively ruling her out of contention for a place in India’s Asian Games squad. Earlier in the day, Vinesh comfortably opened her campaign with a 7-1 victory over Jyoti. She then found herself in a dramatic quarterfinal against Nishu, who raced into a 5-0 lead and came close to pinning the former world medallist after a spectacular four-point throw. Vinesh battled back in the second period, producing a crucial four-point move before edging ahead 6-5. The bout was marked by multiple challenges, technical interruptions and lengthy stoppages. After a tense finish, Vinesh advanced on the criteria following a 6-6 scoreline. She ended up losing to Meenakshi Goyat in the semifinals. Weight category dispute adds to dramatic day The …

WFI bars Vinesh Phogat from comeback tournament, issues show-cause notice

WFI bars Vinesh Phogat from comeback tournament, issues show-cause notice

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Vinesh Phogat’s attempt to return to competitive wrestling has hit another major setback after the Wrestling Federation of India declared her ineligible to compete at the upcoming National Open Ranking Tournament in Gonda. The May 10-12 event was expected to mark Vinesh’s first appearance since stepping away from the sport following the Paris Olympics 2024. However, the federation has now suspended her eligibility for domestic competitions until June 26, 2026. The decision came through a detailed show-cause notice issued by the WFI, which accused the former world championships medallist of violating disciplinary and anti-doping regulations. The federation stated that Vinesh did not fulfil the mandatory notice period required for athletes returning from retirement under United World Wrestling rules. Fresh controversy in ongoing WFI-Vinesh dispute The federation also referred to alleged whereabouts failures connected to anti-doping procedures, alongside concerns related to her disqualification at the Paris Olympics after failing to make weight. Additionally, the WFI questioned Vinesh’s participation in two different weight categories during the 2024 selection trials conducted under the IOA-appointed ad-hoc committee. The notice …

Deepak Punia, Udit to fight for gold medal

Deepak Punia, Udit to fight for gold medal

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India made a good bounce back at the 2025 Asian Wrestling Championships as four grapplers from the country made it to medal matches of the continental competition in Amman, Jordan on Sunday. After a horrible first day of men’s freestyle action, Indian wrestlers redeemed themselves thanks to the brilliant performance from the former medalists, Udit (61 kg) and Deepak Punia (92 Kg). The Olympian Deepak Punia made a comeback to the circuit after a long injury break, and he found his rhythm from the get go to reach the final of the competition, confirming his fifth continental medal. On the other hand, youngster Udit also reached the finals of the Asian Championships for the second consecutive edition and will be aiming to better his color from the last edition, where he settled for the silver. Meanwhile, Mukul Dahiya (86 Kg), Dinesh (125 Kg) will fight for their maiden Asian medal in bronze medal bouts. All four wrestlers had a brilliant day in the preliminary round, reaching the semi-finals. In the semifinals, Udit fought a tactical …

Nitika clinches silver medal, bronze for Neha

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Indian women’s freestyle wrestlers continued their good run at the U20 World Wrestling championships in Pontevedra, Spain, on Friday, adding a couple of more medals to their tally. Nitika and Neha won silver and bronze medals, respectively, as Indian women’s wrestlers ended their campaign with five medals, including one gold, one silver, and three bronze. Nitika was only the second Indian wrestler to make it to the final of these championships. But, she could not convert it into a gold medal and lost a close (1-4) bout to Ukraine’s Iryna Bondar in the summit clash of women’s 62 kg. Earlier, Neha Sangwan also clinched a bronze medal in the women’s 57 kg in a solid high-scoring (10-8) bronze medal match against a Hungarian wrestler, Terek. Neha is just 17 years old and entered this tournament as the reigning world champion in the U17 category, which she won last month in the same category in Jordan. However, Sarika (65 Kg) and Jyoti (53 Kg) lost their close bronze medal bout against the Chinese and Japanese opponents …

HC wants Centre, WFI to respond to protesting wrestlers’ plea against federation election | Sport-others News

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The Delhi High Court on Monday issued a notice to the Centre on a plea by grapplers Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik and Satyawart Kadian to set aside the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) elections held in December 2023. A single-judge bench of Justice Sachin Datta issued the notice to the government through the sports ministry, WFI and the ad-hoc committee appointed to run the federation. The court granted time to the Centre’s counsel to seek instructions in the matter and listed the matter for hearing on March 7. Senior advocate Rahul Mehra, appearing for the petitioner wrestlers, argued that they have sought directions against the “illegal action” of the “suspended” WFI to conduct selection trials for the Senior Asian Wrestling Championships 2024 and Asian Olympic Games Qualifier, notified through its circular dated February 26, going against the directives of the ad-hoc committee. The plea also seeks that the December 21 election held by the WFI be declared illegal and void ab-initio, the ad-hoc committee be directed to continue administering the day-to-day affairs of …

Why India’s top stars make a pitstop in Russia’s Dagestan, dubbed the wrestling capital of the world, on their way to the Olympics | Sport-others News

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Aman Sehrawat was 11 when his uncle dropped him at the Chhatrasal Stadium, not too long after he had lost both his parents. For a decade since, the prodigious lightweight wrestler has been training – and staying – at the fabled, and unforgiving, akhara in North Delhi. But last month, after his coaches sensed the urgency to upskill, Aman stepped outside the familiar confines for the first time. His choice of destination wasn’t surprising – Dagestan. More by design than coincidence, Aman – the junior world champion, senior Asian Champion, Asian Games bronze medallist and the only Indian to win a title so far this year – was simply following the footsteps of all the famous Chhatrasal alumni. For years, India’s top male wrestlers – Sushil Kumar, Yogeshwar Dutt, Bajrang Punia, Ravi Dahiya and Deepak Punia – have flocked to the Eastern European powerhouse. Even before the Tokyo Olympics, where India won two wrestling medals, the entire team camped in Russia before flying to the Japanese capital directly from there. They go there in search …

‘Too many risks’: Women wrestlers encouraged to wean away from last-day fast weight loss | Sport-others News

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At any wrestling championships, the common sight is of athletes in raincoats running rounds of indoor mats on eve of competition. Most of them are also fasting. Wrestlers cramming last-minute sweating, dehydrating and starving to force-fit into their weight categories isn’t something new. But is it healthy? Dr Samuel Pullinger, head of Sports Science at JSW’s Inspire Institute of Sport training centre at Vijayanagar in Karnataka, is trying to wean away the centre’s women wrestlers from this punishing pre weigh-in regime. Often considered a heroic struggle which it is and fairly global, the basis of the practice however is unhealthy. Having noticed a constant stream of Anterior Cruciate Ligament knee injuries and rash of ligament tears, he has now insisted there would be no more sauna and wet suits-facilitated melting of weight. “There were too many risks, the ACL and other serious injury count was high after too much weight was suddenly dropped and that offset any other power advantage. I decided to initiate them into gradual weight loss in the weeks preceding with help …

After her Nationals win, India’s rolling tank Anshu Malik to head to Japan to train with Akari Fujinami | Sport-others News

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Sitting in the coach’s corner, wrestler Anshu Malik’s father Dharamvir Malik’s emotions got the better of him during the 59 kilogram final against Sarita Mor. This was a grudge match between Anshu, the 22-year-old former World Championship silver medalist and Sarita, 28, the former bronze medalist. At the Asian Games trials last year, Anshu had lost 4-6 to Sarita. Anshu had competed in the trials with a grade-II ligament tear of the knee. The Senior National Wrestling Championships in Jaipur was her comeback and there was a lot at stake. Dharamvir was warned twice by officials not to vent his ire at the referees but he kept jumping off his chair to gesture and shout.At the end of the first period, Haryana’s Anshu was ahead 2-1 and went on to outclass Railways Sports Promotion Board’s Sarita 8-3 in the final. Dharamvir, a former wrestler, trails Anshu like a shadow and is also one of her coaches. Winning gold was a relief for the father and daughter before they travel to Yokohama’s Nippon Sports Science University, …

Efforts on, we will return to power in 10 days: Wrestling Federation of India president Sanjay Singh on government suspension | Sport-others News

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Sanjay Singh leads the suspended Wrestling Federation of India and is viewed as a front for Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, accused of sexual harassment by leading female wrestlers. The Varanasi loyalist has gone ahead to conduct a Senior Nationals at Pune by gathering lesser-known wrestlers from 24 state units, defying the Sports Ministry orders and calling the ad hoc committee’s Jaipur Nationals a mistake. He is confident he will convince the government to revoke their suspension and will be back calling the shots in “10 days.” The WFI though was chastised enough to set up a sexual harassment committee, and Singh says he will engage with wrestlers Vinesh Phogat, and Sakshi Mallik while maintaining that they will find redressal to their complaints only in courts. He insists Brij Bhushan Singh Sharan has not even a paisa invested in wrestling anymore, but is free to run his academy in UP. Excerpts from an interview: How did your association with wrestling start? It started as a district official in Benaras in 2008. Wrestling was a hobby. In …

Around 700 wrestlers to compete at the senior nationals: Suspended WFI president

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The suspended president of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), Sanjay Singh, on Saturday, announced that around 700 wrestlers from the federation’s affiliated state units, sans Punjab and Odisha, will take part at the Senior National Championships in Pune, starting Monday. The Sanjay Singh-led elected panel of WFI was suspended by the sports ministry on December 24, just three days after Singh was elected as the new president of the federation, due to violations of its constitution and national sports codes after it announced to host the age group nationals in Gonda at a facility of Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, the former WFI president and an accused of sexual harassment. Singh had replaced former president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. The ministry had earlier said that the National Championships organised by the Singh-led panel would not be recognised. The Indian Olympic Association (IOA), on being requested by the ministry, formed an ad-hoc panel, which is currently overseeing the day-to-day affairs of the WFI. Last week, the ad-hoc panel, led by Bhupendra Singh Bajwa, announced the dates …