Buoyed by wrestling’s re-inclusion in the Olympic Games, a 22-strong Indian team of grapplers will fight it out against a solid international field in the World Championships beginning here on Monday.
After bagging two medals at the London Olympics, Indian wrestlers will be hoping to script another success story at the week-long championships.
Being held after an Olympic year, the championships will begin with men’s freestyle competition (September 16 to 18) followed by women’s freestyle (Sept. 18 to 20) and Greco-Roman (Sept. 20 to 22) at the Papp Laszlo Sports Arena.
India’s only gold in the World Championships has come through two-time Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar, who won in the 66kg freestyle category in 2010. India failed to bag a medal in the 2011 event.
A shoulder injury has kept the 30-year-old out of action for over an year, but Sushil said “it has completely healed now”.
Arun Kumar, who had won a gold medal at the junior Asian wrestling championships at Jakarta in 2011, has been named a stand-by for Sushil.
Geeta Phogat will spearhead the women’s challenge at the marquee event.