Wrestling sport is coming into the limelight, after the release of Dangal and Sultan movies. Wrestling(Kusthi) is one of the historical sport of India, popularly known as Malla-Yuddha in south India which is considered as an amateur style of wrestling. In modern Olympics, amateur style is categorized into Freestyle and Greco-Roman style. Among them, Freestyle wrestlers is a popular one. Let's see the top 10 male wrestlers in India:
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| RIA Novosti archive, image #497573 / Vladimir Rodionov / CC-BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons |
K D Jadhav
He is first Indian to receive an individual Olympic bronze medal at 1952 Summer Olympic Games in Helsinki. He was born in Maharashtra and he won against a local champion at the age of 8. Though he got talent, he had very hard times, he had borne his expenses to participate in Olympics by mortgaging his home. The Government of India has printed 40 paise stamp to commemorate his achievement.
Also, Sangram Singh is directing a movie based on real life story of KD Jadhav which is going to be released in the year 2017.
Awards
| Year | Awards |
| 2001 | Arjuna Award |
Milestones
| Year | Medal | Event | Place |
| 1952 | Bronze | Summer Olympics | Helsinki |
Satpal Singh
Satpal Singh is one well know coach in India and he is a former India wrestler. Satpal Singh was born in the Pehlwani family and his grandfather, father are amateur wrestlers. His interest began in his early stages of childhood. He was trained by legendary Guru Hanuman. He won the Gold medal in 1982 Asian Games and he was Bronze medal in 1974. He received Arjuna Award in 1974 for winning a Bronze medal for India.
After his retirement, he settled as a wrestling coach in Haryana. So many of his students are participating in the national and international level. Sushil Kumar is the student of Satpal Singh. The Government of India has honored him with Dronacharya Award in 2009.
He also received other awards such as Padma Shri in 1983 and Padma Bhushan 2015.
Awards
| Year | Awards |
| 1974 | Arjuna Award (Wrestling) |
| 1983 | Padma Shri Award |
| 2009 | Dronacharya Award |
| 2015 | Padma Bhushan |
Milestones
| Year | Medal | Event | Place |
| 1974 | Silver | Commonwealth Games | Christchurch |
| 1978 | Silver | Commonwealth Games | Edmonton, Alberta |
| 1982 | Silver | Commonwealth Games | Brisbane |
| 1974 | Bronze | Asian Games | Tehran |
| 1978 | Silver | Asian Games | Bangkok |
| 1982 | Gold | Asian Games | New Delhi |
Sushil Kumar Solanki
Sushi Kumar Solanki has won the bronze medal in Olympic Games after the KD Jadhav Bronze medal in 1952 competing at 66kg weight category. He hails from Delhi and he received Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, Arjuna award in 2005. For his achievements, various organizations have presented the cash prize of Rs. 60 million.
Milestones
| Year | Medal | Event | Place |
| 2008 | Bronze | Olympic Games | Beijing |
| 2012 | Sliver | Olympic Games | London |
| 2010 | Gold | World Championships | Moscow |
| 2010 | Gold | Commonwealth Games | New Delhi |
| 2014 | Gold | Commonwealth Games | Glasgow |
| 2006 | Bronze | Asian Games | Doha |
| 2003 | Bronze | Asian Wrestling Championship | New Delhi |
| 2007 | Sliver | Asian Wrestling Championship | Bishkek |
| 2008 | Bronze | Asian Wrestling Championship | Jeju Island |
| 2010 | Gold | Asian Wrestling Championship | New Delhi |
| 2003 | Gold | Commonwealth Wrestling Championship | London |
| 2005 | Gold | Commonwealth Wrestling Championship | Cape Town |
| 2005 | Bronze | Commonwealth Wrestling Championship | Cape Town |
| 2007 | Gold | Commonwealth Wrestling Championship | London |
| 2009 | Gold | Commonwealth Wrestling Championship | Jalandhar |
Yogeshwar Dutt
Yougeshwar Dutt is a freestyle Indian Wrestler from Haryana and he won the bronze medal at London Olympics in 2012 competing at 60kg weight category. In total, he won 7 Gold, 2 Bronze and 2 Silver in various tournaments. He received a cash prize of Rs.10 Million from Government of Haryana.
Awards
| Year | Awards |
| 2012 | Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award |
| 2015 | Padma Shri Award |
Milestones
| Year | Medal | Event | Place |
| 2012 | Bronze | Olympic Games | London |
| 2006 | Sliver | Asian Games | Doha |
| 2014 | Gold | Asian Games | Incheon |
| 2010 | Gold | Commonwealth Games | New Delhi |
| 2014 | Gold | Commonwealth Games | Glasgow |
| 2012 | Bronze | Asian Wrestling Championships | Gumi |
| 2003 | Bronze | Commonwealth Championship | London |
| 2005 | Sliver | Commonwealth Championship | Cape Town |
| 2005 | Bronze | Commonwealth Championship | Cape Town |
| 2007 | Gold | Commonwealth Championship | London |
| 2007 | Gold | Commonwealth Championship | London |
Ramesh Kumar
Ramesh Kumar is born in Haryana state and he has won the first bronze medal for India in 2009 at World Wrestling Championships in Denmark. Ramesh has received 3 Gold, 4 Bronze and 1 Silver medals in his wrestling Career.
Milestones
| Year | Medal | Event | Place |
| 2009 | Bronze | World Wrestling Championships | Herning |
| 2002 | Gold | Commonwealth Games | Manchester |
| 2001 | Sliver | Asian Wrestling Championships | Ulan Bator |
| 2005 | Bronze | Asian Wrestling Championships | Wuhan |
| 2009 | Bronze | Asian Wrestling Championships | Pattaya |
| 2005 | Gold | Commonwealth Wrestling Championship | Cape Town |
| 2005 | Bronze | Commonwealth Wrestling Championship | Cape Town |
| 2001 | Gold | World Junior Wrestling Championships | Tashkent |
Amit Kumar
Amit Kumar is the third wrestler to receive Gold medal after Ramesh Kumar and Sushil Kumar at World Wrestling Champion. He was born on 15th December 1993 in Haryana and he is the youngest athlete to participate in 2012 Indian Olympics. He won two Gold, one Bronze, and one Silver medal for India. He also plays for Pro wrestling league which is held in India.
Milestones
| Year | Medal | Event | Place |
| 2013 | Sliver | World Wrestling Championships | Budapest |
| 2014 | Gold | Commonwealth Games | Glasgow |
| 2012 | Bronze | Asian Wrestling Championships | Gumi |
| 2013 | Gold | Asian Wrestling Championships | New Delhi |
Udey Chand
Udey Chand was born on 25 June 1935 in Haryana and he is the first individual to get a medal for independent India in World Wrestling world Championships at Yokohama. He won Gold medal at Commonwealth Games in 1970. He was the first one to receive the Arjuna Award.
Milestones
| Year | Medal | Event | Place |
| 1961 | Bronze | FILA Wrestling World Championships | Yokohama |
| 1970 | Gold | Commonwealth Games | Edinburgh |
| 1962 | Silver | Asian Games | Jakarta |
| 1962 | Silver | Asian Games | Jakarta |
| 1962 | Bronze | Asian Games | Bangkok |
Chandgi Ram
Chandgi Ram was born on November 9th, 1937 in Haryana. He started his wrestling career at the age of 21 and became a National champion in 1961. He won the Gold medal at 1972 Asian games in Bangkok in 100kg weight Category.
After his retirement, he wanted his daughters to become a wrestler but there is no wrestling for women at that time. He struggled a lot to include the women wrestling in Olympics in India.
Mahavir Singh Phogat is one of the students of Ram. Also, Ram has trained the Geeta, Babita, and Vinesh who later became the international wrestler.
Awards
| Year | Awards |
| 1969 | Arjuna Award (Wrestling) |
| 1972 | Padma Shri Award |
Lila Ram
Lila Ram was born on November 30, 1930, in Haryana. He started his career when he was 18 and later he won the national championship.
He is first Indian to win a Gold medal at 1958 commonwealth games in Cardiff. The Government of India has honored with Padma Shri award for his contribution towards sports.
After his retirement, he worked as an India coach.
Awards
| Year | Awards |
| 1998 | Padma Shri Award |
Milestones
| Year | Medal | Event | Place |
| 1958 | Gold | British Empire and Commonwealth Games | Cardiff |
Sandeep Tomar
Sandeep Tomar is a young Indian freestyle wrestler competing in the 55kg weight division. He was born on April 2nd, 1991 in Uttar Pradesh. He started his career in 2012 and won 4 gold medals for India in different tournaments such as Asian Wrestling Championships, Commonwealth Wrestling Championships.
Milestones
| Year | Medal | Event | Place |
| 2016 | Gold | Asian Wrestling Championships | Bangkok |
| 2013 | Gold | Commonwealth Wrestling Championship | Johannesburg |
| 2016 | Gold | Commonwealth Wrestling Championship | Singapore |
| 2012 | Gold | Copa Brasil | Rio de Janeiro |
In India, because of Cricket domination, other sports does not get required support and not even encouraged. The movies like Sultan and Dangal, has drawn the attention of the Indian audience towards wrestling(Kusthi) game. I hope, the support and encourage in the coming years definitely increase.
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