Commonwealth Games 2014: India's wrestling contingent all set to go on a medal-winning spree

Sushil Kumar in action against Akzhurek Tanatarov at the London 2012 Olympic Games

From the Indian point of view, one of the most anticipated events in any national/international competition is that of wrestling. Reason: the sheer number of medals Indian wrestlers have won for India in recent times!

This time though, the country’s wrestling campaign for the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games has had a bit of a shaky start. A few days ago three wrestlers moved the Delhi High Court seeking de-recognition of Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), alleging violation of sports code by not holding trials for selecting players for Glasgow.

That issue still awaits a resolution, and in the meantime the team is all set once again to give a strong account of itself at the Games. There’s another speed bump though: Greco-Roman wrestling, in which India won seven medals (including four gold) at the 2010 edition, has been dropped from the Glasgow program.

Greco Roman grapplers rarely try and grab eyeballs in India and they normally stay away from mainstream wrestling. Their absence will be strongly felt in the Glasgow Games, and will surely affect the medal tally of the nation.

The Indian team spearheaded by Olympic heroes

The Indian contingent this time will be guided by the friendly faces of the sport – two-time Olympic medalist Sushil Kumar and bronze medalist at the London Olympics Yogeshwar Dutt.

Both of them had been on a break after their medal-winning performances in London, and hence their world rankings were shaken up a bit. But their tremendous experience will always be a threat for the opponents.

Both Kumar and Dutt recently proved their worth in the senior international wrestling tournament in Sassari, Italy, where each of them won medals in their new weight category for the first time.

Dutt won the gold medal in 65 kg category and Kumar settled for silver in 74 kg.

The international wrestling federation (FILA) had late last year decided to introduce new rules and tweaked the weight categories for the Rio Olympics in an effort to save the sport from an impending Olympic axe and make it more viewer-friendly, which is why these two stalwarts will be competing in new weight categories at Glasgow.

The youth brigade is ready to step up

Talking about the younger players in the team, Amit Kumar (57kg), Bajrang Poonia (61kg), Pawan Kumar (86kg) and Satyavrat Kadian (97kg) will not have to face any of the above mentioned weight category changes. Amit, the son of a milkman from Haryana, won a silver medal at the Budapest World Championships last year.

Bajrang too announced his grand arrival in the same tournament by winning the bronze medal. He was also a bronze medal winner in the Asian Championships. Bajrang is one of the highest-ranked Indian grapplers at No. 6 in the world, and is second in Asia. Amit on the other hand is World No. 9.

The Commonwealth Wrestling Championships held at Johannesburg last year gave Indian fans many reasons to cheer. The freestyle grapplers returned home with a rich medal haul of 7 gold, 4 silver and 3 bronze medals, and also grabbed the team title.

A gold each in the tournament was grabbed by Pawan Kumar and Satyavart Kadian.

For Satyavart, who is Asia’s number 3 and World No. 13, this was the first medal in the heavyweight category for India.

Pawan, who is ranked 17th in 74 kg category, will be hoping to win a medal in the 86kg category.

Women grapplers are not far behind

(From left to right): Geeta Phogat, Sushil Kumar, Satpal, Yogeshawar Dutt and Babita

On the other hand, women grapplers clinched 3 gold, 2 silver and a bronze in the previous edition of the Games. Geeta Phogat, however, will be absent at the Glasgow CWG due to an injury. But her sister Babita will look forward to retain the yellow metal in 55kg category.

Geeta, who won gold at the Delhi Commonwealth Games, was the only Indian female grappler to qualify for the London Olympics.

Geetika, Navjyot and Jyoti and young blood Vinesh are medal contenders in their own right and will be hoping to justify expectations.