The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) disqualified over 500 wrestlers from a U-17 tournament in Gonda due to age fraud, exposed by a new Aadhaar-based verification system. This stringent check revealed significant discrepancies between birth certificates and Aadhaar records, with WFI vowing to continue this crackdown to ensure fair play in age-group competitions.
Indian women wrestlers Hansika Lamba and Neha won bronze medals, while Meenakshi Goyat advanced to the final at the Senior Asian Wrestling Championships.
Indian athletes are set for a busy day at the Asian Games on September 30, with competitions across various disciplines including archery, boxing, cycling, golf, judo, sailing, shooting, squash, tennis, and wrestling. Several medal opportunities and crucial semifinal matches await the contingent.
India finished fourth at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games with 85 medals, a significant dip from the previous edition's record haul. While traditional strongholds like shooting and athletics underperformed, breakthroughs in archery, wrestling, golf, boxing, hockey, and cricket showcased a broadening sporting base. The performance serves as a reality check on sustaining progress towards top global rankings and highlights areas for improvement in mental conditioning and preparation.
Ashu beat Syria's Abdulkarim Mohammad Al-Hasan 8-1 while Kundu defeated Nao Kusaka of Japan 8-0 inside 90 seconds in a lop-sided 72kg bronze medal bout.
If India's medal tally ultimately falls significantly short of Hangzhou, the conversation should not stop with the athletes or coaches. It should extend to a much more uncomfortable institutional question: After years of increased investment, programmes, infrastructure and policy attention, where exactly is the system failing to convert that investment into medals, champions and depth across sports? asks Jaydeep Ray.
Russian wrestler Dmitry Baboryko was banned for two years after taking a breast cancer drug that counters the effects of using steroids.
India is set to field a strong contingent at the Asian Games 2026 in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, from September 19 to October 4, with key athletes like PV Sindhu, Mirabai Chanu, and Lovlina Borgohain leading the charge to defend titles in cricket, kabaddi, and men's hockey.
An Olympic medal, whatever its hue, could do wonders to Greco-Roman, just like Sushil Kumar's bronze at the 2008 Beijing Games did for freestyle wrestling in India.
Former World Championships silver medallist Deepak Punia secured his place in the Indian team for the Asian Games after winning the 97kg freestyle competition at the selection trials. Other winners included Aman Sehrawat and Sujeet Kalkal.
The 21-year-old Dalvi placed third in the Greco Roman 55 kg category.
The Greco Roman style, a poor cousin of free style wrestling in India, had a lot cheer with historic three-medal performance at the U-23 World Championships through Sajan Bhanwala, Nitesh and Vikas.
Grapplers Rajender Kumar and Sunil Kumar gave India more reasons to cheer by clinching a gold and bronze respectively in Greco-Roman style wrestling in the Commonwealth Games on Wednesday.
Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Mizoram secured multiple gold medals at the Khelo India Tribal Games, with wrestling and weightlifting events taking centre stage.
World Championships medallists Deepak Punia and Antim Panghal were among 30 Indian wrestlers selected for the Senior Asian Championships to be held in Amman, Jordan from March 25-30.
Grappler Sandeep Tulsi Yadav created history by winning India's first-ever medal in the Greco-Roman category of the Senior World Wrestling Championships after beating Serbia's Aleksandar Maksimovic in the 66kg division in Budapest on Sunday.
Wrestlers Antim, Aman seeded at Paris Olympics
Indian wrestler Sunil Kumar won the bronze medal in the 87kg Greco Roman bout of the Asian Championship hin Amman, Jordan on Tuesday.
Arunachal Pradesh's Nedi Ngi won gold in the women's 5000m at the Khelo India Tribal Games, while Maharashtra dominated the men's event. Karnataka leads the medal tally.
A communication from United World Wrestling's anti-doping department confirmed Vinesh Phogat's retirement intimation to the International Testing Agency (ITA) in December 2024, amidst claims and controversies surrounding her comeback and eligibility for the Asian Games.
The trials were initially planned for February 27-29 but got postponed
India's Greco-Roman grapplers Ravinder Singh, Harpreet Singh and Hardeep crashed out in the penultimate day of the World Wrestling Championships in Budapest on Saturday.
On the penultimate day of the competition, India finished with just two silver in the Greco-Roman wrestling event even as Prem missed out on a bronze medal finish.
Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Sanjay Singh has guaranteed Vinesh Phogat's safety at the National Open Ranking Tournament in Gonda, addressing her concerns about potential bias and security issues related to the venue's connection to former WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
Wrestling Federation of India president Sanjay Singh has guaranteed Vinesh Phogat's safety at the National Open Ranking Tournament in Gonda, dismissing concerns about the venue's association with former WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
Ending India's three-decade medal drought in the Asian Games Greco-Roman Wrestling, Ravinder Singh and Sunil Rana bagged bronze medals in the 60kg and 66kg categories respectively on the opening day of competitions in Guangzhou on Sunday.
Dharmender Dalal cut a sorry figure as he lost his bronze medal play-off match in the men's 120kg Greco-Roman wrestling competitions to round off another disappointing day for Indian grapplers in the Asian Games in Guangzhou on Tuesday.
Ronak Dahiya bagged the bronze medal in the 110kg Greco-Roman category
After a disappointing 2024 season, the senior Asian Championships will provide an opportunity for Indian wrestlers like Antim Panghal and Deepak Punia to make a fresh start.
Rulon Gardner defeated the seemingly invincible Russian Alexander Karelin to win the 130kg gold medal at the Sydney Games in 2000.
Kajal wins India's second gold in women's competition at U-20 World Championships
Chirag Chikkara created history as he became only the third Indian to be crowned Under-23 World champion.
Manisha Bhanwala clinched India's first gold medal at the Asian Championships since 2021 edition with a close 8-7 win over Korea's Ok J Kim.
The trials will select top wrestlers to represent India at the Asian Championship in Amman, Jordan from March 25-30.
Saarika was dominant in the 53kg weight class. She outclassed Sevval Cayir by technical superiority (12-2) and did not lose a single point in her quarterfinal against China's Tianyu Sun, winning 8-0.
The women's national wrestling camp will be held at Sports Authority of India's Patiala centre in future following reservations from multiple female grapplers.
The medal count was nowhere close to satisfactory at the senior level but junior performances held out hope for a brighter future as Indian wrestling searched for new stars in a challenging 2025.
A record contingent of 121 athletes, including 54 women, will represent India at the Rio Olympics.
The four-day selection trials began on Wednesday at NIS Patiala and SAI Regional Centre in Sonepat under the chairmanship of ad hoc panel member Bhupinder Singh Bajwa.
The ad-hoc committee member added that the wrestlers' demand to hold the Worlds trials on or after August 20, as they need time to recover from the Asian Games trials, was "not feasible".
