NEW DELHI: From the rustic earthy ‘akharas” to imported mats from largesse doled out by wealthy individuals to the modern day sponsorships from the “dangals” of local interest to mind-boggling national championships the face of wrestling in India is steadily changing.

Yet wrestling today as in the past still evokes feelings of pride reverence honor and an old-world charm in Varanasi where the 38th National Wrestling Championship concluded recently.

This sense of pride was in evidence every time the four-day championship touched a new crest of excitement.

Chottey Lal Yadav a raw 20-year local lad revealed sinews of steel in battling the Railways’ captain and veteran Satyavan in the 74kg freestyle final. Though he lost the bout by a slender 3-1 margin Yadav’s brave show made him the toast of Varanasi a town steeped in wrestling tradition and lore.

Punjab’s Jagdish Singh inched up to within a hair’s breadth of the prestigious super heavy title (130 kg) tile in the freestyle section. Despite equalizing the scores at 55 against favorite Sumer Singh Jagdish Singh conceded a walkover with half a minute still remaining in the bout.

The perplexing turn about Jagdish Singh confessed was owing to the respect he had for his guru Sumer Singh himself. Sumer Singh thus completed a record ninth consecutive title in the section

Defending champions Delhi (in the freestyle section) and Services (in the Greco-Roman) were toppled by hosts and strong challengers Railways only the second instance in 37 years when a single team walked away with both the freestyle and Greco-Roman team championships.

The championships gained in significance because the Asian freestyle championship scheduled from April 17 to 19 in Delhi being just round the corner. Following the championship the Wrestling Federation (WFI) recently announced a list of 68 grapplers for the national coaching camp commencing here.

The first two days of the championship were overshadowed by the absence of four immensely talented mat men three from Delhi and one from Railways.

Missing from the meet were the Delhi freestylers Ombir (48 kg) owing to an injury Sanjay (90 kg) and Subhash Verma (100 kg) the latter two deciding to skip the national championships in favor of a privately-sponsored lucrative tournament at Mananhara in Punjab’s Phagwara district. Joining the missing list was Railways’ ace Kehar Singh in the 90 kg freestyle category.

Ombir and Subhash Verma brought the lone wrestling silver and bronze medals respectively for the country in the Beijing Asian Games last year and hence their loss was a serious one for the Delhi side.

While the senior wrestlers maintained their domination in all the major events fresh talent surfaced only in fits and starts with a Chottey Lal Yadav and Jagdish Singh making a favorable impact for a brief period but in the end capitulating in the face of stiff challenge.

Pre-championship favorites Summer Singh (130 kg freestyle) Satyavan (74 kg freestyle) and Kaka Pawar (57 kg Greco Roman) refused to loosen their grip on the gold medals in their weight categories. Among the young hopefuls were 20-yearold Ashok Sinick of the Services (100 kg freestyle) Punjab’s Malkiat Singh (62 kg freestyle) and Pappu Yaday (52 kg Greco Roman).

Foremost among the reasons for allotting the championships to Varanasi were the mass support and popularity of the sport in the region.

On the negative side were the organizational problems that arise out of such ventures like the last-minute cancellation of a live telecast of the finals due to it being “technically not feasible” or the extreme difficulties newsmen had to endure in collecting the results because of lack of proper order in their compilation.

In the end Railways prevailed in style their hard work in both the preparation of their teams as well as in the conduct of the tournament paying rich dividends.

However if Indian wrestling is to make much headway in the international arena it is imperative that quality coaching be provided to our mat men in order to improve their techniques as well as to sharpen their physical capabilities.

Article extracted from this publication >> April 12, 1991