WFI to organize first ever beach wrestling nationals in Mammallapuram

The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) will hold its first-ever beach wrestling national competition in Mammallapuram. The event will be held in Mahabalipuram starting August 28. As per the WFI invitation to the state associations, there can be a maximum of three wrestlers per weight category.

The national body may issue a special authorization to increase the number of athletes in the same category per unit if the brackets are not full.

Former Indian coach Kripa Shankar believes the initiative is good, as India already has a similar wrestling competition called “dangals”.

“We can excel in this style of wrestling. I don’t see much difference between dangals in India and mud wrestling. It will also give many mud wrestlers a chance to represent India without worrying about changing their technique a lot,” he told Sportskeeda.

The winners will participate in the Roma Beach Wrestling World Series in Italy. The competition is scheduled for September 3-4.

What is Beach Wrestling?

Unlike in the mat, beach wrestling has only eight weight categories – four each in men’s and women’s style. The men’s weight brackets are 70 kg, 80 kg, 90 kg and +90 kg, while the women’s are 50 kg, 60kg, 70 kg and +70 kg.

There are three age groups in beach wrestling - Cadet, Junior and Senior Wrestling.

Wrestlers below age 17 compete in cadet, while grapplers between the ages of 18 and 20 wrestle in juniors. The ones above 20 fall in the senior category.

The bouts are of 1 period of three minutes for all categories. Beach wrestling is only practiced in standing positions. The use of the legs is allowed in all action.

What is the scoring system in Beach wrestling?

A wrestler is awarded 1 point if he manages to bring any of his opponent’s body part to the ground, except the hands. A pushout or a caution for illegal action will also earn 1 point.

However, the attacker (and only the attacker) can put one knee to the ground when executing an action if this action is finished with the opponent in the ground.

Three points are awarded if the wrestler manages to expose his opponent’s back to the ground during a takedown or a throw.

The first athlete to reach 3 points wins the match. If there is a tie at the end of the match, then the winner will be decided on the basis of criteria -- last point scored, weight of the athletes, the lowest (smallest) number pulled during the draw/rank.