Pro Panja League: Asia's biggest arm-wrestling league to commence ranking tournament in Gwalior on July 22

The much-awaited Pro Panja League, India's biggest arm-wrestling tournament, will commence with a ranking tournament in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, on July 22.

The Pro Panja League ranking tournament, which is affiliated with the Indian Arm Wrestling Federation, will take place at the Lakshmibai National Institute of Physical Education in Gwalior.

The event will see the participation of over 1100 arm-wrestlers and the Pro Panja League is touted to be the biggest arm-wrestling competition in Asia.

The weigh-in ceremony for all participating arm-wrestlers will take place on July 22. The preliminary stages of the competition will commence on July 23 and the final is set to be played on July 24.

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Pro Panja League arm-wrestlers to take part in many tournaments

After the ranking tournament, the arm-wrestlers will be drafted into teams for the main league, which is expected to begin in October.

Between the ranking tournament and the main league, mega matches between the top-ranked arm-wrestlers will also be conducted.

The league's co-founder, Parvin Dabas, elaborated on the idea of the league and its future plans. In a media statement, he said:

"The Pro Panja Ranking Tournament is our way of giving every player a level playing field to get into the league and ensuring the only thing that counts is the talent and strength they show on the arm-wrestling table. We have six teams in the Pro Panja League after the ranking tournament via a draft system where the top 18 players in all 10 weight categories will get into the league."

The 2022 edition of the league saw massive interest from arm-wrestlers from across the country.

More than 1,121 arm-wrestlers have registered for the event for the upcoming season.

Compared to the previous edition, the number of registrations has seen exponential growth this season as it is nearly three times the ranking event.

Out of all the participants who have registered, 897 are men, while 174 are women, and 37 belong to the specially-abled category.

Kerala has a maximum number of registrations, with a total of 180 arm wrestlers (147 men and 33 women) in the fray. Uttar Pradesh (140), and Madhya Pradesh (125) are the two other states that have seen the most participation.