Bharat Kesari Dangal to mark Martyrs Day; winner to get Rs.1 crore

Observing the Martyrdom Day of freedom fighters Bhagat Singh, Raj Guru and Sukhdev, the Bharat Kesari Dangal, a national-level Freestyle wrestling competition, will be organised here and the winner will be awarded Rs.1 crore, an official said on Wednesday.

The competition will be organised at the Tau Devi Lal Stadium in Sector 38 from March 21-23. The winner's purse is perhaps the biggest given to any wrestler in such competitions in the country.

The runner-up will get a cash prize of Rs.50 lakh and the bronze medallist will get Rs.25 lakh.

The mega event is being organised by the Haryana government with the help of Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and Wrestling Federation of India (WFI).

Since Haryana is observing the Martyrdom Day of Bhagat Singh, Raj Guru and Sukhdev on March 23, the event will conclude on that day, in honour of the great warriors and martyrs of the land.

It is for the first time that such a big sports event with huge award money is being organised to commemorate 'Shaheedi Diwas'(Martyrs Day).

Though the applications for participation into this mega event were invited by post, participants have been asked to report at Tau Devi Lal Stadium on March 20 for the weigh-in and other formalities.

According to the spokesman of the state sports department, all the participants will be given cash prizes. The wrestler bagging fourth position will get Rs. 10 lakh, fifth position holder will get Rs.5 lakh, sixth position holder will get Rs.3 Lakh, seventh position holder will get Rs.2 lakh and the eighth position holder will get Rs.1 lakh.

He said that the wrestling competitions will be held on mats and each bout will consist of two rounds of 3 minutes each with an interval of 30 seconds.

All participants will be divided into four groups and the preliminary competitions in all groups will be held on knock-out basis. The quarter-finals will be on league basis.

"The semi-finals and final will be organised in consultation with the Wrestling Federation of India. Any participant wrestler if tested positive for banned substances will not be given the award or prize money," the spokesperson said.

As regards the eligibility for participation, any wrestler weighing 80 kilograms or more can participate provided that as on January 1, 2016, he is above 17 years of age. That is, he should have been born before January 1, 1999.

Medal winners of any of the recognised wrestling competitions during last three years organised by the IOA or WFI like Cadet, Junior and Senior nationals, National Games, Hind Kesari, Haryana Kesari, winners of state level tournaments, Services Games, Railway Sports Competitions, All India Inter-University Games, All India Police Games etc can also participate in the mega event.