Lacklustre National wrestling championships begin today

The three-day Senior National Wrestling Championship will get underway at the Koramangala Indoor Stadium here from Friday, but with its sheen significantly wiped out.

The Sanjay Singh-led governing panel of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), under whose aegis the nationals is being held, stands de-recognised by the Union Sports Ministry. And a month ago, the Delhi High Court restrained the WFI from holding the nationals and called for an Indian Olympic Association (IOA)-appointed ad-hoc committee to run the sport.

But the presence of an ad-hoc body will bring censure from the sport’s world governing body, United World Wrestling, which is why the present set of office-bearers are continuing.

Caught in this messy state of affairs are some of the country’s top wrestlers, who will thus not be participating in the nationals. Railway Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) will not be sending athletes, but has allowed a few to turn out for their respective states. Aman Sehrawat, a bronze medallist at the Paris Olympics, is a Railways wrestler.

This is not the first time the WFI has been in choppy waters in event-related matters. In October, it was barred by the High Court from holding selection trials to choose teams for the World U-23 and World Championship.

The 500 odd who will participate in Bengaluru will no doubt gain from the competitive experience, but they will not taste the associated perks. Decks were in fact cleared for the nationals only after WFI told the High Court that the results will not considered for selections.

Among those to watch out for will be Manipur’s Y. Minakshi Devi (50 kg), a U-23 Asian Championship gold medallist (2024), Delhi’s Sushma Shokeen (53 kg), a bronze medallist in Asian Wrestling Championship (2022), and Sunil Dabarpurya (87kg Greco-Roman), an Asian Wrestling Championship gold medallist (2020).