Jalandhar: World Championships bronze medallist Vinesh Phogat will headline the 2019 Senior National Wrestling Championships as for the first time ever the prestigious tournament will be streamed live in India and the Indian sub-continent. The tournament will be held here in Punjab between November 29 and December 1 with over 500 wrestlers vying for top honours in the men's freestyle, Greco Roman and women's events.
The field in the women's competition includes India's best bet for a wrestling medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Vinesh Phogat (55 kg), Rio Olympics bronze medallist Sakshi Malik (62 kg), promising Divya Kakran (68 kg), Seema Bisla (50 kg), Sarita More (57 kg) and Navjot Kaur (65 kg) are the stars looking to make an impact.
The tournament will also witness some sizzling rivalries as Kakran will see a tough fight from the highly promising Pinki in 68kg as will Navjot Kaur in 65kg from the upcoming Gargi Yadav.
Greco Roman ace Sajan (77kg) along with ace freestyle wrestlers Gaurav Baliyan (74kg), Sumit Malik (125kg), Satyawart Kadian (97kg) and Rahul Mann (70 kg) will be among the stars to watch out for.
In its bid to keep the Indian wrestlers connected with their millions of fans in the country, www.wrestlingtv.in has been streaming all the international events LIVE in the country, including the just-concluded Under-15 Asian Wrestling Championships and the UWW Women's World Cup. The two events collectively were watched by more than 18 million fans across the world on WrestlingTV. Continuing with their efforts, WrestlingTV will now show approximately 100 hours of the action live over the three days of the Senior Wrestling Championships.
Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh is upbeat about this new beginning.
"This is yet another initiative to popularise the sport across all walks of life. LIVE streaming of national championship will bring the best domestic wrestling action to the fans and wrestling fraternity and I appreciate this gesture and commitment of our commercial partners Sporty Solutionz for this. It will help the next generation of Indian wrestlers understand how the sport is played at the top," said the WFI president.