Wrestling Federation of India to rely on Indian coaches for 2023 season

The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) has chalked out its future training plans. One of the key features of the 2023 program is not to appoint foreign experts for the national squad.

“Our elite wrestlers are winning medals at the world level with the guidance of Indian coaches,” Vinod Tomar, assistant secretary of WFI, told Sportskeeda on Tuesday. “As of now we don’t have any plans to appoint foreign experts for the national teams.”

WFI had appointed foreign experts from Iran, Georgia and Russia to prepare the national squad for major international competitions, including the Olympic Games.

At the August 15-21 World Junior (U20) Wrestling Championships held in Sofia, Bulgaria, the Indian Greco-Roman team won two bronze medals for the first time through Sumit (60kg) and Rohit Dahiya (82kg).

Overall, the Indian squad won 16 medals, including one gold, four silver and 11 bronze.

The Indian women's wrestling team bagged the runners-up trophy with 160 points. Japan won the winners trophy with an aggregate total of 220 points. The USA team with 124 points was third. India’s Antim (women’s 53kg) brought home the solitary gold medal.

Tomar said that for the first time, the Indian men’s freestyle team claimed third place in the World Junior Wrestling Championships. The Indian team collected as many as 112 points in that discipline. Iran with a 159-point tally topped the field, while the USA team with 132 points took home the runners-up trophy.

According to Tomar, the Indian wrestlers were a talking point at the World U20 Wrestling Championships.

“Foreign coaches were discussing Indian wrestlers in the draw apart from the Japanese. It is a good thing that other leading wrestling playing nations are aware of the Indian squad,” Tomar said.

As per Tomar, the expansion of domestic tournaments has been one of the reasons for good performances at the World Junior Championships.

“Apart from the National Wrestling Championships, we have introduced national ranking tournaments in all age groups, including U15,” Tomar explained.

The WFI has also started the Federation Cup in all age groups. The inaugural editions of the U15 and U20 Federation Cup are scheduled to be held in Rohtak, Haryana, on August 24 and 25, respectively.

“Top 12 states will compete in the Federation Cup. The leading three states are also entitled to field two teams,” Tomar said.

Read: With a goal to further strengthen grassroots, Wrestling Federation of India doubles domestic events in 2022