Sharvan to open campaign as India gear up for U-23 World Wrestling Championship

Junior Asian Championship gold medallist Sharvan will open India's medal hunt on Monday as a 30-member wrestling squad left for Budapest to participate at the UWW Under-23 World Championships.

India will be looking to improve their performance from the last edition where Ravi Kumar Dahiya won the silver medal in 57kg.

While freestyle exponent Sharvan (65kg) remains one of India's key medal hopes, the squad also has the likes of Greco-Roman wrestler, Sajan Bhanwal, who has three medals from the World Junior Championships in 77kg and would be looking to grab his first medal from the U-23 Worlds.

Among the women, Pinki and Reshma Mane are looking to make their mark on the world stage.

On the first day of the championships, Naveen (57kg), Naveen (70kg), Virdev Gulia (79kg), and Akash Antil (97kg) will be in action, besides Sharvan (65kg).

Based on the current form of these wrestlers, the WFI is expecting a better performance at the World Championships after the men's team and the women's team underwent 15 days of rigorous training at Sonipat and Lucknow respectively.

More than 60 teams and 600 U-23 wrestlers will be seen in action from all around the globe. The championship will be underway with men's freestyle competition on the first two days followed by women's wrestling, with the Greco Roman competition scheduled on the final three days.

The first edition of the tournament was played in 2017 in Poland where Bajrang Punia led India to three silver medals.

In the second edition, it was Ravi Kumar Dahiya who shone before going on to prove his mettle at the 2019 Senior World Championships by claiming the bronze and confirming the 57kg freestyle category berth at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.