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Following in the footsteps of other city-based domestic leagues, the first season of the Pro Wrestling League kicked off here in Delhi today with a player auction. The real action starts in December, and will run from the 10th to the 27th. This season, six teams are in the fray - Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, with the northern India focus of these teams specifically to tap into the significant interest in wrestling in these parts.
Promoted by the Wrestling Federation of India, the apex body for the sport in India, the League aims to tap into the significant excitement and interest created in the sport of wrestling among the people after impressive performances by Indian wrestlers in the Olympics, Commonwealth Games as well as Asian Games.
Wrestling first made an appearance at the Olympics in 708 BC and India tasted success in the sport at the 1952 Helsinki Games when Khadasaheb Jadhav clinched the bronze medal.
India has till date won a total of more than 160 medals in wrestling in the Olympics, Commonwealth Games, Asian Games and World Championships combined and would be looking to add to this kitty at the Rio 2016 Olympics.
The auction was attended by WFI officials as well as yesteryear Bollywood superstar Dharmendra, who owns the Punjab franchise. The auction was conducted by the world-famous auctioneer Bob Hayton, who has also been associated with the IPL in the past.
Each franchise were to select a total of 9 wrestlers - 5 men and 4 women, from a total kitty of Rs 2 crores. Among these 9 wrestlers, 5 have to be Indian, while 4 can be international wrestlers (2 men and 2 women each). Each franchise needs to have an icon player, who commands the highest base price in the auction of Rs 33 lakhs.
The icon players in this auction were Indians Sushil Kumar, Yogeshwar Dutt, Narsingh Yadav and Geeta Phogat, American Adeline Gray and Swede Sofia Mattison. Yogeshwar commanded the highest price of these wrestlers; he was sold for Rs 39.7 lakhs to Haryana. While Sushil went for Rs 38.2 lakhs to Uttar Pradesh, Narsingh and Geeta went to the Bangalore and Punjab franchises respectively. International wrestlers Gray went to Mumbai for Rs 37 lakhs, while Mattison came to Delhi at her base price of Rs 33 lakhs.
