Asian Wrestling Championships 2020: WFI offers free entry for event in New Delhi
What's the story?
The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) has announced that the upcoming Asian Wrestling Championships 2020 will have no entry fee. Fans of the sport can witness world-class wrestlers vying for glory at the KD Jadhav hall at Indira Gandhi Stadium in New Delhi for Free. The event is scheduled between 18-23 February.
The background
Asian Wrestling Championships is an annual event and it will be conducted in the national capital this time around. Indian grapplers won a total of 16 medals at the 2019 Asian Wrestling Championships that were held in Xi'an, China. These included a solitary gold, 6 silver, and 9 bronze medals.
At the 2020 edition, the 30-member Indian contingent will be led by Bajrang Punia, Ravi Dahiya, and Vinesh Phogat. With the absence of nations such as China, Turkmenistan, and North Korea, an excellent performance is expected from India.
Greco-Roman wrestling will be contested on Feb 18 and Feb 19. Women's Freestyle wrestling will be held on Feb 20 and Feb 21 while the Championships will commence with Men's Freestyle wrestling being contested on Feb 22 and Feb 23.
The Greco-Roman wrestlers from Japan and Iran have arrived in New Delhi while all the remaining wrestlers are expected to fly in by the end of February 17.
The heart of the matter
The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) has decided to make the entry free for the 2020 Asian Wrestling Championships in a bid to ensure that the KD Jadhav hall is packed with spectators on all days.
The sport of wrestling has a fantastic fan base in the rural areas in and around Delhi and making the entry free will definitely be a big incentive for the spectators to throng the Indira Gandhi Stadium.
It is to be noted that the seats will only be filled on a first-come-first-served basis.
Bajrang Punia is India's biggest hope for a gold medal in the 65kg Freestyle category. The 25-year-old was the only Indian to return home with the yellow metal from the previous edition in Xi'an and will be expected to repeat the same feat in the 2020 edition. The Asian Games gold medallist will, however, face stiff competition from Japan’s Takuto Otoguro and Kazakhstan's Daulet Niyazbekov.
Meanwhile, star 53kg women's wrestler Vinesh will likely lock horns with Japanese wrestler Mayu Mukaidu, who is currently World Number 3 in the category. Mayu had defeated Phogat at the 2019 World Championships and the Indian will be looking to avenge that defeat.
Other prominent Indian wrestlers like Deepak Punia, Ravi Dahiya, Sakshi Malik, Divya Kakran, Sonam Malik, and Anshu Malik will also be in action at the 2020 Asian Wrestling Championships.
What's next?
The Indian contingent is an extremely strong one this time around. The grapplers will be looking to make the most of the home advantage and test their skills ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.