"Planning year-long calendar of arm-wrestling events": Parvin Dabas, co-founder, Pro Panja League

The Pro Panja League is doing a never-seen-before professionalizing of the sport of arm wrestling and taking it to new heights. For centuries, arm wrestling, more commonly known as panja, has been seen as a non-combative show of strength, but even with its rich history, it was only recently that it is being seen as a professional sport.

A brainchild of Bollywood actor Parvin Dabas and co-founded by his wife and fellow actor Preeti Jhangiani, Pro Panja League is aimed at 'revolutionalizing arm wrestling' in India.

This journey of Parvin and Preeti was recently joined by Rajiv Bose, who joined the Pro Panja League as the Business Head. Sportskeeda caught up with Parvin and Rajiv to have an in-depth conversation on the success and journey of the Pro Panja League.

Here are excerpts from the interview.

Parvin and Rajiv on Pro Panja League and more

Q. What drew you to starting a professional arm wrestling tournament, the Pro Panja League, in a country with so many popular sports?

Parvin: The market is quite crowded, and other sports already have several people attached. I was looking for a sport where I could make a difference. A sport that had a certain simplicity, which is for the masses.

Arm wrestling has a very deep and cultural connection to India. There is a thriving amateur scene, but no professional platforms exist for these athletes.

It's a sport with which we have had an emotional connection since childhood. We also identified it as an entertaining sport that people love to watch.

Q. Arm wrestling is a much more complex sport for which people give it credit. Can you shed some light on that?

Parvin: We must remember that in professional arm wrestling, there is a professional table according to international guidelines and rules.

It is like football, where the goal is simple, but many rules and tactics are involved.

Arm wrestling involves much more than just brute strength. It requires technique and mental strength. For example, we conducted an arm wrestling tournament at IIT Mumbai. We offered the top guys a certain amount of prize money if they could beat our female champion, Chetana Sharma.

These guys were stronger than her, but she defeated all of them because of her technique.

Q. How was your experience organizing multiple events for the Pro Panja League across the country, especially considering the pandemic?

Parvin: The lockdown was not easy, but it wasn't easy for anyone. So we tried not to worry about things that nobody could control. We had our first event in Delhi, which was inaugurated by Shri Kiran Rijiju and Vijender Singh, one of India's biggest boxing stars, three weeks before the lockdown.

What a slam bam start we had to the @ProPanjaLeague #ProPanjaLeague with Hon’ble MOS Youth Affairs & Sports Shri @KirenRijiju ji inaugurating and gracing the tournament & @boxervijender bhai rocking the event 👊🏻✌🏻 Much gratitude to them 🙏🏻 https://t.co/5Q4Ktu2ufc

We did have to scale it down, put a pause on things, and restructure the league. We brought another sub-brand called Mega Matches.

Before the second lockdown, we relaunched the Pro Panja League with a massive event in Mumbai, in front of the Gateway of India and Taj Hotel. It received huge success on an international level. People started calling us the best arm wrestling production in the world.

After that, we did an event in Goa on a casino boat, Majestic Pride, along with IOS, which manages Vijender Singh. So it was fascinating for us.

We recently had our Gwalior event, which was a great success. We got permission to hold our event in front of the Gwalior Fort and were fortunate enough that the rain gods were with us.

Pro Panja Ranking Tournament Promo is out now! 🔥
Semi-final & Final matches coming soon! 🔥
@parvindabas @preetijhangiani https://t.co/L5tTnSslHD

Our Pro Panja Ranking Tournament Finalists 🔥
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#ProPanjaleague #LNIPE #LNIPE_GWALIOR #OceanBeverages #NikonIndia #TheBridge #IndianArmWrestling #ArmWrestling #IndianSports https://t.co/GhR5pZahd5

It was a surreal experience for everyone. We had our guests, “Monster” Michael Todd and his wife, Rebecca Todd. And they themselves said that they had never ever seen an arm wrestling event at this scale.

The 'Monster' MICHEAL TODD HAS FINALLY ARRIVED 🔥
@MonsterMTodd
@MrsMonsterTodd
@parvindabas
@preetijhangiani
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#ProPanjaleague #LNIPE #LNIPE_GWALIOR #OceanBeverages #NikonIndia #TheBridge #IndianArmWrestling #ArmWrestling #IndianSports https://t.co/gF6DHJvyJA

We also had the president of the Asian Arm Wrestling Federation, Mr Jeenbek Mukambetov.

The Pro Panja League welcomes Mr Jeenbek Mukambetov, the president of Asian Armwrestling Federation to Gwalior for the Pro Panja League Ranking Tournament

#ProPanjaLeague #ArmWrestling https://t.co/ANoItYdtb5

We had also partnered with the Indian Arm Wrestling Federation. Social media blew up after the event. Within a month, we had 55 million views on social media.

Our subscriber base has rocketed since. So thank you to all the viewers who are supporting us.

SUCH AN OVERWHELMING RESPONSE‼️
Thank you for all the love ❤️

Hydration partner: @OceanBeverages

Venue Partner: @LNIPE_Official

Media Partner: @TheBridgeHindi

Fitness partner: @TheFitistan

@indarmwrestling

Camera Partner : @NikonIndia https://t.co/Wuf0J7ZVa0

Q. What makes Pro Panja League special that led you to join the brand?

Rajiv: There is an exciting story. The last time I might have arm wrestled, it was in college, and we were having fun. So when I received this opportunity, I started looking it up and finding more information about it.

I found that arm wrestling is still new at the urban level, but at the grassroots level, the sport is very strong. It is a pan-India phenomenon.

The Pro Panja League has a unique format. It is a light combat sport and has huge potential. There is a story that we are trying to build up for the nation.

Q. How does it feel to be honored with the gold medal by the Asian Arm Wrestling Federation President for your contribution to the sport through the Pro Panja League? Does it feel like now you have an additional responsibility?

Parvin: It, of course, is a very prestigious honor, and it felt amazing to be acknowledged by the arm wrestling world. I hope to live up to the faith the arm wrestling community has put in me.

Q. How was the experience of working with World Arm Wrestling Champion Michael Todd?

Parvin: We were trying to get him for our Mumbai event that happened in 2021. Unfortunately, it did not happen because of the quarantine rules.

This time, everything fell into place, and the visa worked out with no quarantine issues. And we were eager to have him.

Even the arm wrestlers were so excited to meet him. We had almost 600 arm wrestlers at our Gwalior event, and he met them and held workshops for them.

Even he was excited to see the welcome he received. There was a lot for the arm wrestlers to learn, so it was an excellent opportunity for everyone.

Q. With arm wrestling so popular on the grassroots and rural level, what are your plans to promote the Pro Panja League across the country in urban and rural markets?

Rajiv: As Parvin said, we are a mass sport, so we are not only focussing on urban population but tier 2, tier 3 cities as well. We also have plans to organize multiple events across metro cities. And unlike other leagues, we will have an annual calendar of mega matches, which will continue throughout the year.

We are still in the process of scheduling and creating this calendar, and once it is ready, it will be fascinating to see for the viewers.