State wrestling league in Pune

More than 70 wrestlers from Maharashtra would compete in the inaugural edition of the 'Kusti Champions League' (KCL)to be held from October 7 at the Balewadi Sports Complex in Pune.

The announcement of the state wrestling league was made at a media briefing here by organisers MWCL Sports LLP and the Maharashtra State Wrestling Association.

KCL founder and promoter Pushkaraj Kelkar said 72 grapplers will be picked from an auction pool of 300 for the league.

"There will be two categories in the auction - A and B. Those in A category will be iconic players and their base price will be Rs 3 lakh, while the base price for the players in B category will be Rs 50,000," said Kelkar.

According to Kelkar, a total of 90 matches would be played and they would be telecast on a regional channel, Colours Marathi.

"There will be six teams representing six cities -- Mumbai, Pune, Nashik, Kolhapur, Aurangabad and Nagpur. Each team will comprise eight men and four women players. The games will be played in both traditional and mat categories," said Kelkar in presence of MSWA office-bearers.

"The duration of the league is from October 7-28," he added.

Commonwealth Games Gold medallist wrestler Rahul Aware, who will be one of the participants in the league, said the league will benefit the younger players from the state.