Junior World Championship Wrestling: Preview, schedule and live streaming details

Modified Aug 13, 2021 13:25 IST

After a nearly two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Junior World Championships are all set to make a comeback. The competition, featuring over 500 athletes from 52 nations, will kick off with freestyle action next Monday. This will be followed by women's wrestling and Greco-Roman events.

India will field a strong 30-member contingent which will look to replicate the country’s performance at the Cadet Worlds in July. Freestyle wrestler Gourav Baliyan, who will be making his debut at the championships, will be among those expected to go deep in the competition.

He will feature in the non-Olympic 79kg weight category and will look to make it to the Indian team for the Senior World Championships in October. Baliyan, who hails from Uttar Pradesh, is a 2020 Asian Championships silver medalist.

When is Junior World Championships?

The Junior World Championships will be held in Ufa, Russia from August 16 to 22. Deepak Punia created history at the Tallin Junior Worlds in 2019 when he became the first Indian to win a gold in the competition.

He carried his form into the Senior Worlds in September that year when he bagged a silver in the 86kg weight category to confirm his place on the team to the Tokyo Olympics.