Wrestling Ad-hoc panel announces age-group Nationals from February 11 in Gwalior

The Indian Olympic Association (IOA)-appointed ad-hoc committee, which runs the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), on Saturday announced the dates for the much-awaited National under-15 and under-20 wrestling championships.

According to a statement, the events will be held at the Laxmibai National Institute of Physical Education (LNIPE), Gwalior, from February 11 to 17. The panel expects the participation of around 1200 wrestlers.

Immediately after his election as the WFI president on December 21, Sanjay Singh had announced that the above-mentioned competitions would be held at Nandini Nagar, Gonda, at the wrestling facility constructed by former president of the federation Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who is facing various charges including sexual harassment by some wrestlers.

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Sanjay said the quick decision was taken to save the age group wrestlers from being ineligible after crossing over to another year, but it evoked strong reactions and the Sports Ministry’s objection and the events could not be held.

Later, when the newly-elected WFI decided to conduct the National championships for the elite wrestlers in Pune, the Ministry, which had ‘suspended’ the WFI, made it clear that it would not recognise any events organised by WFI and would give its recognition only to the competitions, including the National championships in Jaipur, to be held by the ad-hoc committee.

It will be interesting to see whether different state units affiliated to the WFI send their wrestlers to the competitions organised by the ad-hoc panel.