CHENNAI: The wrestling hall at the SAI's Netaji Subhas Regional Centre, Lucknow is adorned with framed photographs of renowned women wrestlers. Be it the lone Olympic medallist woman wrestler from the country, Sakshi Malik or two-time World Championships medallist Vinesh Phogat or the history-making Phogat sisters, Geeta and Babita, the hall has pictures of almost every female grappler, who has medalled for the country.
It began in 2021 when the sports ministry upgraded the centre by building an air-conditioned wrestling hall at the cost of `7.5 crore. It was decided that the centre would serve as an exclusive training centre for women wrestlers. Women wrestlers' national camp was shifted to the venue and the facility got a major facelift when former sports minister Anurag Thakur inaugurated the hall, a 300-bedded hostel exclusively for women athletes and sports medicine centre in February 2023.
However, a protest launched by renowned wrestlers like Bajrang Punia, Sakshi and Vinesh against the then president of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh intensified a couple of months later. It forced authorities to shift the camp from Lucknow. Allegations levelled against Brij Bhushan included a complaint of sexual harassment and with the strongman hailing from Uttar Pradesh, the Lucknow venue was deemed unsafe for women by the protesting wrestlers.
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Cut to present and the centre is a house to around 100 women athletes including upcoming wrestlers. Elite women wrestlers might have their national camp moved to IG Stadium in New Delhi but the facilities, once being upgraded keeping them in mind, is now being utilised by their male counterparts across both styles — freestyle and Greco-Roman.
Be it the 2024 Paris Olympics bronze medallist Aman Sehrawat or world No. 1 in 65kg weight category Sujeet Kalkal or multiple Asian Championships and 2023 Asian Games medallist Greco-Roman wrestler, Sunil Kumar, the cream of Indian men's wrestling is at the venue toiling for the Asian Games.
Indian wrestlers won six medals in the last edition at Hangzhou. Deepak Punia, who recently won the title in the 92kg at the Open Ranking Tournament bringing himself back in the contention for the national camp, bagged the silver in the 86kg while Aman, who later went on to win a bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Games, finished third in the 57kg. Sunil won a bronze medal in the 87kg. Antim Panghal (53kg), Sonam Malik (62kg) and Kiran Bishnoi (76kg) also won a bronze medal each. In the 2018 edition, Indian wrestlers could manage only three medals but two of them were gold — Vinesh's medal in 50kg and Bajrang Punia's top finish in the 65kg. Divya Kakran won bronze in the 68kg.
With 40 wrestlers in each style (overall 80) and a posse of support staff to take care of them, wrestlers are expected to breach the 2023 tally. Freestyle coach Vinod Kumar looked confident when asked about his expectations. "I am expecting our wrestlers to medal in each weight category thus making it six from freestyle only," Vinod told this daily. Explaining the rationale behind his confidence, the coach said every weight category has a minimum of two good wrestlers and the bench-strength is a sign of big improvements the country has made since the previous edition.
"Apart from Aman, the 57kg division has Ankush, who recently won a medal at the Asian Championships. He had won a lot of medals at the U20 continental and world meets. The fight will be good between him and Ankush," hoped the coach. Sujeet has made the 65kg his own with his unbeaten run in the international tournaments but Vinod said 74kg would be a surprise package this time. "At least four wrestlers are there and any one of them can make it to the team for the Asiad. Abhimanyu won a gold in 70kg at the 2026 Asian meet while Sandeep Mann came second in the 79kg at the same tournament. Jaideep, champion of the U23 continental meet is also there, so this weight division will see an interesting battle during the trials," said the coach.
The Asian Games selection trials for women wrestlers are on May 30 in New Delhi followed by trials in the men's category in Lucknow the next day. Mukul Dahiya is the country's best bid in the 86kg even as the Olympian and 2019 silver medallist Deepak is leaving no stone unturned to make his presence felt. "Viky in 97kg and Dinesh in 125kg are favourites for the trials. The latter, in fact, won a bronze in the 2026 Asian meet and finished third at the Zagreb Open Ranking series this year. Apart from him, Ronak and Jaspooran Singh are also there to give Dinesh a competition."
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Back in 2023, Sujeet and Antim Panghal moved the Delhi High Court challenging a decision of the IOA's ad-hoc panel wherein Vinesh and Bajrang were given exemption from trials and got direct entry for the Asian Games. A lot of water has flown under the bridge since then as Sujeet is world No. 1 in the weight category and favourite to make it to the national squad with Bajrang nowhere in the scene.
"Every player has a dream run. That was his time when he owned the 65kg weight category by winning a lot of medals for the country. I will also try to win as many laurels as I can," said Sujeet on the past controversy and how he overcame it to become a force to reckon with. "I was not that mature and preparations were also not that good that time around. I have learnt a lot in the last three years. The wins and losses have taught me a lot. I can say that I am now matured and confident and developed myself skill wise," added Sujeet. A lot will be expected of him during the Asian Games and Sujeet said it will only motivate him to perform better.
Like freestyle coach, Greco-Roman coach Hargobind Singh is also optimistic of a good show. "Two Ranking Series will precede the Asiad and that will be a good preparation for us. Sunil won a bronze in the previous edition and this time we are expecting four to five medals (from Greco-Roman) at the Asian Games," he said.
Sunil is eyeing to change the colour of the medal this time around and said he is preparing keeping best rivals in 87kg in mind. "Wrestlers from Iran and Kyrgyzstan are good. Coach sir sends me their videos and we are preparing accordingly. Hopefully, I can do better than the previous edition," Sunil said.
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As many as four physiotherapists, three masseurs (with one to join soon) and a SAI nutritionist apart from coaches are working day in and day out to prepare wrestlers for the challenges like Asiad and 2028 LA Olympics. Foreign coaches will soon join the forces, adding to the good work going on at the moment. In the meantime, the wall at the wrestling hall may also see women wrestlers' photographs being replaced by their male counterparts, who now have made the facility their own.