Indian wrestling team leaves for Budapest to take part in World Championships

FILE PHOTO: Amit Kumar (2nd from left), Yogeshwar Dutt and Sushil Kumar are part of a team which left for Budapest to participate in World Wrestling Championship

The 24-member Indian wrestling team left for Budapest to take part in the World Wrestling Championship, which will be held from September 16-22.

In fact, the national team has left two weeks in advance to get acclimatized to the conditions in Hungary so that they can hit their groove once real action starts.

At the 2002 London Olympics, Indian grapplers trained in Belarus before the marquee event and a move fructified as the country bagged one silver and one bronze.

The team, which is being accompanied by thirteen-member strong support staff, will be playing in the freestyle, greco-roman and women’s freestyle categories respectively.

Double Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar will grapple in the 66-kg category, while talented and Asian Championship gold medallist Amit Kumar will fight in the 55-kg. Yogeshwar Dutt is part of the team, recovering from an injury but will not take part in the World Championship.

Rookie wrestler Bajrang, who scooped up a gold in the 2013 Asian Championships in New Delhi, will be expected to put up a good show. He was a last minute replacement for Yogeshwar Dutt.

Narsingh Yadav is another seasoned grappler of the freestyle contingent.

Gaurav Sharma and Ravinder Singh will spearhead the country’s challenge in the Greco-roman category.

India’s first women Olympian wrestler Geeta Phogat will spearhead India’s challenge in the women’s freestyle category.

She will have for company 2013 Asian Championship silver medallist Navjot Kaur besides Asian Championship medalists Geeta, Geetika and Jyoti.

The squad: Freestyle: Amit Kumar (55 kg), Bajrang (60 kg), Sushil Kumar (66 kg), Arun Kumar (66 kg), Narsingh Pancham Yadav (74 kg), Parveen Rana (74 kg), Pawan Kumar (84 kg), Satyawart Kadian (96 kg), Hitender (120 kg); Chief Coach: Vinod Kumar, Foreign Expert: Vladimer Mestvirishvili, Coach: Virender Kumar, Masseur: Rahul Sharma, Doctor: Vijay, Physio: Vikas; Greco-roman: Gaurav Sharma (55 kg), Ravinder Singh (60 kg), Sandeep Tulsi Yadav (66 kg), Rajbir Chhikara (74 kg), Harpreet Singh (84 kg), Hardeep (96 kg), Naveen (120 kg), Coaches: Kuldeep Singh, Chandra Vijay Singh, Vikram Kumar; Masseur: Gurpreet Singh; Freestyle women’s wrestling: Nirmala Devi (48 kg), Vinesh (51 kg), Pooja Dhanda (55 kg), Geeta (59 kg), Geetika Jakhar (63 kg), Navjot Kaur (67 kg), Jyoti 72 kg); Chief Coach: Om Parkash Yadav, Coaches: Hari Ram Yadav, Maibam Ramani Chanu.