Wrestling

Athletics once again has the highest representation among Indian athletes chosen for the continental event, with 74 participants named for the Asian Games 2026 at Aichi-Nagoya

For years, Nisha Dahia would have this lingering thought after every injury: Why me? Why did the body give up just when everything seemed to be falling into place? Why did another promising campaign end in disappointment? She no longer asks those questions? Nisha has learnt to take setbacks in her stride, stopped cribbing about the injuries that have repeatedly interrupted her career, and, most importantly, accepted that an athlete can control the work but not always the outcome. That change in mindset could prove as important as any technical improvement when Nisha steps on the mat at the Asian Games in the women's 68kg category, carrying the hopes of finally converting her considerable potential into a major medal. "I used to feel that God was being unfair on me. I used to think, why is this happening to me again and again? But now I don't think like that," Nisha told PTI in an interview. "I will get what is written in my fate. I will do my job, work hard and wrestle well. I wi

Talented wrestler Nishu set up a final showdown with Asian Games-bound Antim Panghal after emerging victorious in the 53kg category at the national selection trials for the Senior World Wrestling Championships here on Monday. Nishu prevailed in a fiercely contested field, beating Thishka at the Indira Gandhi Stadium. The final trial between Nishu and Antim will determine India's representative in the 53kg category at the Senior World Championships to be held in Astana, Kazakhstan, from October 24-November 1. Under the WFI's selection policy, Monday's trial winners have earned the right to challenge the Asian Games-bound wrestlers in a final trial for the Senior World Championships berths. The final trial will be held at a later date. The trials in four non-Olympic weight classes will also be held later. Two-time U20 World Champion Kajal continued her impressive run, finishing on top in the 76kg category after defeating Siksha in the final. Simran produced a composed performance t

Adding to the embarrassment for Indian wrestling, Asian Games-bound Greco Roman wrestler Deepak has failed a dope test, forcing the national federation to withdraw him from the contingent, further shrinking the Indian challenge at continental showpiece. The development comes after India have already lost two wrestling places in the Asian Games squad following doping cases involving Mukul Dahiya (men's freestyle 86kg) and Deepanshu (Greco Roman, 130kg). Deepak was the first wrestler from the Indian postal service to secure a place in the Indian team for the Asian Games. The 25-year-old Delhi wrestler was a surprise winner at the selection trials held in Lucknow on May 31 after coming through a medal-winning show at the Federation Cup. According to a notification issued by the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA), Deepak's urine sample, collected during the selection trials, returned an atypical finding for clomifene, a prohibited substance classified under S4 (Hormone and Metabolic ..

The Delhi High Court has refused to grant bail to Olympian Sushil Kumar in the alleged murder case of former junior national wrestling champion Sagar Dhankar. Justice Purushaindra Kumar dismissed the celebrated wrestler's bail application on August 6, citing concerns over influencing witnesses raised by the Supreme Court when it cancelled his earlier bail, his conduct prior to arrest, the gravity of the offence and his capacity to influence the ongoing trial's outcome. The judge emphasised that while bail is ordinarily the rule and jail the exception, the offence in the present case was a "premeditated and gruesome assault resulting in death", which is corroborated by recovery of a firearm, video evidence and a large body of material yet to be tested at trial. Seeking relief, the counsel for the accused alleged that the deceased's father, whose complaint led to the earlier cancellation of bail, has not supported the prosecution's case in the trial. It was therefore contended that t

The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) on Thursday suspended five wrestlers, including U20 Asian Championship trails winner Deepanshu, for four years after their birth certificates were found to be fake during a verification exercise in its crackdown on age fraud in the sport. Deepanshu, who had won the men's freestyle 65kg event on Wednesday, has been replaced by Pawan Balaji Dhayagude in the squad for the championship, starting June 27 in Pattaya, Thailand. The other suspended wrestlers are Tanuj Antil, Baljot Singh and Nikhil Dalal and Saket Drall, who reached the final of the 86kg trials. He was removed from the final and was replaced by Sahil Dalal, who eventually grabbed the place in the Indian team. In an order issued by WFI president Sanjay Kumar Singh, the federation said it had taken a "very serious view" of wrestlers submitting forged birth certificates to gain eligibility for participation in National Wrestling Championships. WFI said discrepancies in birth certificate

The Supreme Court on Thursday said the plea of the Wrestling Federation of India against the Delhi High Court order allowing wrestler Vinesh Phogat to participate in selection trials has become infructuous in view of subsequent developments. A bench of Justices PS Narasimha and Aravind Kumar, which refused to go into the observations made by the high court, said this court should not be taken as having reiterated the findings and observations made in the order. The bench said all the issues are left open. Senior advocate DN Goburdhun, appearing for the WFI said that Phogat was allowed to participate in the selection trial but she did not succeed. "She did not succeed but she created havoc over there," the senior counsel told the bench. The bench told him that the issue has now become infructuous. Goburdhun submitted that there were certain observations made by the high court with regard to decisions of the Federation and terming them "malafide" and "deplorable". "All these ...

Olympic bronze medallist Aman Sehrawat and former world U20 champion Antim Panghal headlined the selections after winning their respective categories

The contingent secured a total of 10 medals, comprising two gold, three silver and five bronze, to achieve a perfect podium record in the competition

Vinesh began her campaign in the trials with a comfortable 7-1 victory over Jyoti before surviving a stern challenge from Nishu Kumari in the quarterfinals

The decision has set up an intriguing battle in the women's 53kg division, with Vinesh expected to compete against former world championships medallist Antim Panghal

Phogat, who is attempting a return after a maternity break, challenged the WFI's decision after being declared ineligible under revised rules linked to retirement and anti-doping regulations

WADA contested the ruling, stating that the investigation lacked sufficient depth and failed to properly evaluate the contamination claim.

The journey of PWL 2026 will start today in New Delhi with a players' auction, which will see around 300 players going under the hammer for 72 open spots across six franchises

Indian wrestler Sujeet Kalkal won the gold medal in the men's freestyle 65kg title clash at the U23 World Championships with a 10-0 victory over Uzbekistan's Umidjon Jalolov here on Monday. The contest lasted four minutes and 54 seconds as the referee declared the Indian winner. It was victory by superiority for Kalkal who dominated the title clash against his Uzbek opponent. Prior to this, Kalkal had never won a world title but had two U23 Asian titles (2022, 2025) and one U20 Asian Championship gold (2022). Sujeet had bronze in the same championships last year and has bettered the colour of his medal this time. He won his first two bouts by technical superiority -- against Moldova's Fiodor Ceavdari (12-2) and Poland's Dominik Jakub (11-0). He was trailing against Bashir Magomedov in the quarterfinal but eventually won 4-2 to make the semifinals where he overpowered Japan's Yuto Nishiuchi 3-2 after pulling off a stunning two-point throw in the dying moments of the bout.

India's Greco Roman wrestlers continued to disappoint at the U20 World Championships as all five in action on Saturday exited the competition, here Saturday. The only Greco Roman wrestler to win a medal at the tournament was Suraj, who pocketed a bronze in the 60kg weight class. Anil Mor was in bronze race in 55kg weight category but went down fighting 7-10 against Japan's Daisuke Morishita. With this, India's campaign ended at the Championships. The women's team had ended runner-up with seven medals while the men's freestyle team could also manage just one silver through Sumit Malik in the 57kg weight class. Gaurav (63kg) was up against Moldova's Dumitru Rapesco in the qualification round and emerged winner on criteria after the score was tied 2-2 at the end of regulation time. His pre-quarterfinal also produced a 1-1 result but this time he ended up on the wrong side of the result against Azerbaijan's Tural Ahmadov. Ahmadov later lost his quarterfinal, ending Gaurav's chances

Malik will face Magomed Ozdamirov (UWW) in the title clash after the Russian-trained wrestler overcame Kazakhstan's Nurdanat Aitanov 3-1 in the other semifinal.

Freestyle wrestler Vishal will fight for the bronze medal after losing his 97kg freestyle semifinal bout to UWW grappler Magomedgadzhi Magomedov on the opening day of the U20 World Championships, here on Sunday. The 20-year-old Indian lost the closely-fought semifinal 9-11 and will now take on a yet-to-be-confirmed grappler in the bronze-medal bout. Vishal gave his opponent a tough fight and had the grappler, who was fighting under the United World Wrestling (UWW) flag, in all sorts of trouble before Magomedov managed to eke out a narrow win. Magomedov led 10-4 when Vishal mounted a comeback. The Indian scored a takedown and Magomedov was cautioned for a singlet foul, which made it 10-7. As the bout restarted, India appealed for two more points but the referee had already blown the whistle before the control from Vishal. That challenge gave Magomedov enough time to recover and hang on to a slender lead. Earlier in the quarterfinal, Vishal's opponent, Japan's Noah Leibowitz, pulled

The Supreme Court on Wednesday cancelled bail to Olympic wrestler Sushil Kumar in the murder case of former junior national wrestling champion Sagar Dhankar at the Chhatrasal Stadium in the national capital A bench of justices Sanjay Karol and Prashant Kumar Mishra set aside the March 4 order of the Delhi High Court granting bail to the wrestler. The wrestler has been asked to surrender within a week. Kumar and others are accused of fatally assaulting Dhankar in May 2021 over an alleged property dispute. Two of Dhankar's friends were also injured in the assault. According to the postmortem report, Dhankar suffered cerebral damage from the impact of a blunt object.

The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) has suspended 11 grapplers for submitting fake birth certificates after the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) verified 110 such documents and maintained that there was no lapse on its part as 95 delayed registrations were done only on the orders of the SDM. The sport of wrestling has been grappling with two major issues: Overage wrestlers competing in lower age-group competitions and many trying to represent a state different from their domicile after procuring fake birth certificates. In some cases, the certificates have been issued as late as 12-15 years after the birth of the child. Suspecting foul play, WFI provided the MCD with a list of certificates for verification. The MCD upon verification replied to WFI that it indeed issued birth certificates but maintained that the delayed registration (registration after one year of birth) is not done directly by it but under the orders of the SDM. In several competitions, especially at the ..