Wrestlers impress at Asian meet but work left to be done

The women emerge as the high point with 5 medals, 4 of which were in Olympic weight divisions

- Avishek Roy

NEW DELHI: The return of Indian wrestlers at the Asian Championships in Jordan was impressive. There is no denying that the training of the wrestlers suffered over the last two years with no national camps being organised and no federation in place.

Even at the start of the year, the situation was bleak and the wrestlers missed two important international ranking series tournaments. The path of the Indian team's entry to the Asian Championships was only cleared after the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) got back its recognition from the Sports ministry last month.

For most of the last two years, the wrestlers trained in their local training centres. While top wrestlers were able to train overseas under the TOPS programme, the second rung suffered due to dearth of sparring partners in akhadas and lack of domestic tournaments.

The result at the Asian meet at Jordan, however, show that not much has been lost. At the akhadas, the coaches were able to keep the wrestlers motivated and ready for major competitions. India won 10 medals (1 gold-3 silver-6 bronze) and some fresh faces came through showing the depth in the sport. Women's wrestlers emerged as the high point with five medals, four of which were in the Olympic weight divisions.