Junior World Wrestling Championships 2021: New Indian stars to challenge current No. 1 for senior Worlds spot

India field a number of new stars at the Junior World Wrestling Championships as the women’s and freestyle teams made headlines in Ulfa, Russia. From Simran (50kg), Sanju Devi (62kg) and Bipasha (76kg) in women’s wrestling to Ravinder (61kg), Pruthviraj Patil (92kg) to Anirudh Kumar (125kg) in freestyle, the depth and talent in Indian wrestling was on full display in Ufa.

The Greco-Roman style, though, continues to look for inspiration as another flop show.

This new crop of Indian wrestlers will now be gunning to challenge the current number ones for a senior world championship spot. The Worlds is slated to be held from October 2 to 10 in Oslo, Norway.

With that in mind, here's a recap of India’s performance in the six-day event:

India’s freestyle shows grit at Junior Wrestling World Championships

India had a decent outing in the freestyle event, with podium finishes in six out of 10 weight categories. The freestyle squad also surpassed the 2019 Junior Worlds medal tally. But it wasn't so much the medal haul which stood out as the rise of new names in the heavyweight division.

For the first time in three years, India can now look beyond the likes of Satyawart Kadia (97kg) and Sumit Malik (125kg).

Pruthviraj Patil, who hails from Maharashtra, bagged a bronze medal in his debut competition. He got a narrow 2-1 win against Russia’s Ivan Kirillov in 92kg.

Deepak, in 97kg (Olympic weight class), too was making his debut on the international stage, and he did not disappoint either. The Indian wrestler clinched a 3-2 victory against Milan Korcsog of Hungary at the Junior Wrestling World Championships.

Anirudh Kumar, on the other hand, overpowered Aydin Ahmadov of Azerbaijan to win 7-2 and grab the bronze medal.

Anirudh will now eye a place in the Indian team for the Senior World Championships slated for October. He will be amongst the favorites to grab a spot in the absence of Sumit Malik. The latter is currently serving a ban for a failed dope test.

Deepak and Pruthviraj, meanwhile, will look to challenge Satyawart Kadian in 97kg. Kadian has been India’s number one wrestler in the weight class for nearly four years.

In 61kg, the rise of Ravinder makes it a three-way battle between Olympic silver medalist Ravi Dahiya, who plans to compete in the non-Olympic bracket, and 2019 world medalist Rahul Aware.

Gourav Baliyan, who won bronze, will have to choose between 74kg and 79kg. He has been one of the challengers in the Olympic weight class but it is in 79kg where the Uttar Pradesh wrestler has managed to get results.

India’s women wrestling continues to rise in ranks at Junior World Wrestling Championships

Out of the three squads, it was the Indian women’s wrestling team that impressed the most. The two-day event had everything that would suggest their rise. India finished in the top eight in all 10 weight categories. It won five medals – three silver and two bronze medals.

However, the 62kg category will continue to be in focus when the world championship trials are held next month.

Currently dominated by Olympian Sonam Malik, she will now have a new challenger in Sanju Devi, who bagged a silver. Incidentally, Sonam might be suspended from participating at the Worlds due to indiscipline, which would make it a two-way battle between Sanju and Olympic medalist Sakshi Malik.

In 50kg, bronze medalist Simran, Cadet gold medalist Komal and Olympian Seema Bisla will be the three favorites to grab the world championship spot.

The 76kg weight class will be another Olympic weight category expected to see some action. Junior Worlds silver medalist Bipasha will look to make the heavyweight category her own ahead of the Asian and Commonwealth Games.

However, she will face competition from 2018 CWG bronze medalist Kiran and former Asian medalist Gursharan Kaur.

India’s team ranking at the Junior Wrestling World Championships

Freestyle

101 points – Fifth

Women’s wrestling

134 points – Third

Greco-Roman

18 points – 19th