Indian Wrestling Team For Paris Olympics Has Women Wrestlers Outnumber Men

Wrestling is the only sport in which India has won at least a single medal in the last four Olympics. To date, the country has added seven Olympic medals in wrestling.

With the events starting today, the countdown to the 2024 Paris Olympics ends. While all eyes will be on India’s star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra’s game, they have also high hopes from India’s wrestlers.

The Indian wrestling contingent consists of some experienced players and also some of them who are going to perform for the first time at this big platform.

KD Jadhav was the first wrestler to win independent India's first individual medal at the Helsinki Games in 1952.

Wrestling aptly is India's second-most successful sport at the quadrennial event, after field hockey, in which currently we stand at a tally of 12 medals—eight gold, one silver and three bronze. And the tally of Indian wrestlers is at seven—two silver and five bronze—at the Olympics so far and they have been contenders at each of the Games in the last two decades.

A total of 14 Indian wrestlers took part at the Istanbul meet from May 9 to May 12, while six have earned quotas for 2024 Paris Olympics. Antim Pangal, Vinesh Phogat, Anshu Malik, Nisha Dahiya, and Ritika Hooda are the five female Indian wrestlers in the 2024 Olympics, while among the males only Aman Sehrawat is a contender.

Antim Panghal (53 kg) bagged India’s first quota at the 2023 World Wrestling Championships, while Vinesh Phogat (50 kg), Anshu Malik (57 kg) and Reetika Hooda (76 kg) are among the Asian Qualifiers at Bishkek in Istanbul. Nisha Dahiya bagged the fifth quota for India in the women’s 68 kg category on Friday.

Bajrang Punia, the bronze medalist in the men’s 65 kg at the Tokyo Olympics and one of the top Indian wrestlers, has however not made it into the Indian wrestling team for the qualifiers. Other renowned wrestlers like Ravi Kumar Dahiya, silver medalist at the Olympics 2020 in the 57 kg, and Deepak Punia, who finished fifth at the Olympics 2020, in the men’s 86 kg missed out on a quota in Istanbul.

Former Asian champion Aman Sehrawat (57 kg) is the only male freestyle wrestler to secure a quota in the 2024 Paris Olympics. He replaced the most formidable Indian wrestler in the category of 57 kg weight division.

He also has some experience from the world stage that can come in handy in his debut Olympics.

In 2022, he won the World U23 Wrestling Championships and in 2023, he captured the Asian Championships gold in Astana. He also won bronze at the Asian Games in 2023 and in January 2024, Aman won gold at the Zagreb Open Ranking Series tournament.

It is for the first time that women wrestlers have outnumbered men in the Indian squad for the Olympics.

Vinesh Phogat (50 kg): The Phogat sister is back in form. She is undeniably one of India’s finest female wrestlers. She has a decorated career—three gold medals from Commonwealth Games, two bronze medals from World Championships, and an Asian Games gold medal.

In the Tokyo Olympics, Phogat was in exceptional form and remained unbeaten throughout the year and won gold at the 2021 Asian Championships.

Antim Panghal (53 kg): A teenage wrestling sensation from Haryana, Panghal has left her mark on the international stage, with a bronze medal at World Championships, and Asian Games.

The oldest of the Panghal siblings, Sarita Panghal, was a national-level kabaddi player and she introduced Antim Panghal to wrestling at the age of 10.

Anshu Malik (57 kg): She is just 21 years old, and already wears a hat with lots of feathers—a silver medal at the World Championship and another at the Commonwealth Games.

In 2021, Anshu created history, when she beat Ukrainian Solomiia Vynnyk to enter the final in the women’s 57 kg category at the World Wrestling Championships in Oslo in Norway. It made her the first Indian woman to reach the final of the world wrestling championships, going further than illustrious names like Geeta Phogat and Vinesh Phogat.

Nisha Dahiya (68 kg): India’s most-promising young wrestler, with a list of records and some notable medals, had most wins in the 65 kg category at the Asian Championships. She is the fastest Indian wrestler to win a gold medal at the World Championship.

She also holds one gold medal at Commonwealth Championships 2019, silver medal at the Asian Championships 2020, and a bronze at the World Championships 2020.

Reetika Hooda (76 kg): She wrestles in the freestyle category and has won a bronze medal in the women's 72 kg event at the 2023 Ibrahim Moustafa Wrestling Ranking Series in Egypt. She has also won a bronze medal at the Asian Wrestling Championships 2023.

The year 2023 was a tough one for the Indian wrestlers. Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Mali, Anshu Malik, and Bajrang Punia—the top Indian wrestlers had a year-long fight against former Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. This resulted in the national body’s suspension by the United World Wrestling and the Sports Ministry.

Vinesh Phogat was one of the players fighting a match outside the ring, against the management of WFI.

The WFI's suspension and subsequent reinstatement by United World Wrestling have disrupted preparations, leading to a lack of centralised training camps and coordinated efforts.

The recent performances and quota wins are seen as a beacon of hope for the sport's revival in India. While a new national federation under a fresh set of office-bearers is in place, the damage to Indian wrestling can be seen in the number of male wrestlers qualifying for Paris.

Wrestling competitions at the Paris 2024 Olympics are set to kick off on Aug. 5 at the Champ-de-Mars Arena.

Indian wrestling's path to the Paris 2024 Olympics has been filled with both notable achievements and significant hurdles. With six athletes having secured Olympic quotas, India aims to not only increase its medal tally but also restore the sport's prestige and motivate future wrestlers.