Senior National Wrestling Championship To Kick Off On Friday

Senior National Wrestling Championships: Some of India's top wrestlers will take part in the Senior National Wrestling Championships 2024 to begin from Friday, here at the Koramangala Indoor Stadium.

While Haryana will look to dominate the Championships with 28 wrestlers from the state participating across categories, a total of 24 states and UTs will participate in the coveted event.

Over 700 entries have come in from across the country including Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Jammu and Kashmir, Andhra Pradesh, Chandigarh, Delhi, Chhatisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Puducherry, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal.

Hosts Karnataka have also entered with a strong contingent of 32 wrestlers across gerco roman, freestyle and women's wrestling categories. The contingent will be led by medal contenders Gopal Koli, Mahesh P Gouda, and Shweta Sanju Annikeri.

Among the wrestlers to watch out for is Y Minakshi Devi of Manipur participating in the 50kg category. Earlier this year, she won the U-23 Asian Championship Gold in Jordan and is a former silver medalist at the World Championship. Haryana's Jyoti in the 53kg weight category is another participant to watch out for. She participated in the Junior world Championship Spain 2024 and is also a medallist at the cadet Asian Championship.

Among other women wrestlers includes Anjali of Haryana who will participate in the 59kg category. Asian Games 2022 participant Radhika also of Haryana will be vying for honours in the 68kg category.

Delhi's Sushma Shokeen, a bronze medallist in Senior Asian Wrestling Championship will feature in the 53kg while her teammate Bipasha who is Junior Asian Wrestling champion will participate in the 72kg category.

In the men's category, Arjuna awardee and Asian Games Bronze medallist Sunil Dabarpurya of Haryana will headline in the 87kg greco roman category while his compatriot from Haryana Sunny who won World Police Games gold medallist Canada 2023 will be a top feature in the 63kg category. Senior World Championship participant Anuj Kumar also of Haryana is a promising name to clinch top honours in the 70kg freestyle category.

Participanting in the 61kg men's freestyle category, Lalit Kaushal of Madhya Pradesh who won a bronze medal in the previous nationals held in Pune expressed his excitement of taking part in Bengaluru for the first time. "We have all come to Bengaluru for the first time to complete in the wrestling national championship. It is nice to see more events being held in South India, two years ago in 2023, the championship was held in Kerala. It is great that this event is being held in Bengaluru for the first time. The venue is looking top class to compete, the stay and food provided is also very good. The organisers have ensured good facilities for the participants to do their best. Personally speaking, I have prepared well for this event and I am hopeful of a medal here."

The 21-year-old Lalit from Indore believes Delhi's Neeraj will be his toughest opponent. "He has dropped his weight and will be competing in 61kg for the first time. I think he will give us the toughest fight in our category," he added.

Punjab's Karandeep Singh participating in the 125kg also expressed confidence of a good show by Punjab in the nationals. "About 4-5 wrestlers who are from the Railways Sports promotion Board are representing Punjab. I am also from Railways and participating for Punjab this time so I believe the Punjab participation will be very strong. I won a silver medal in the nationals held in Jaipur earlier this year. Back then, I participated in the 97kg category. I had an injury after the nationals and ended up gaining weight hence I continued to train in the 125 category. We have a strong team from Punjab. I am happy this event is happening in Bangalore, the environment to compete here looks good," he said.

Competitions will span three disciplines: Free Style, Greco Roman Style, and Women’s Wrestling.

Punjab's Karandeep Singh participating in the 125kg also expressed confidence of a good show by Punjab in the nationals. "About 4-5 wrestlers who are from the Railways Sports promotion Board are representing Punjab. I am also from Railways and participating for Punjab this time so I believe the Punjab participation will be very strong. I won a silver medal in the nationals held in Jaipur earlier this year. Back then, I participated in the 97kg category. I had an injury after the nationals and ended up gaining weight hence I continued to train in the 125 category. We have a strong team from Punjab. I am happy this event is happening in Bangalore, the environment to compete here looks good," he said.

Article Source: IANS