India

India, is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the south-west, and the Bay of Bengal on the south-east, it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west; China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north-east; and Burma and Bangladesh to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives; in addition, India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand and Indonesia.

According to the 2001 census, there are 27 million-plus cities in India; among them Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Pune are the most populous metropolitan areas.

Tourism

The tourism industry of India is economically important and grows rapidly. It supported 39.5 million jobs, 7.7% of its total employment. This gives India the third rank among countries with the fastest growing tourism industries over the next decade. India has a large medical tourism sector which is expected to grow at an estimated rate of 30% annually to reach about ₹ 95 billion by 2015.

According to provisional statistics 6.29 million foreign tourists arrived in India in 2011. This ranks India as the 38th country in the world in terms of foreign tourist arrivals. Domestic tourist visits to all states and Union Territories numbered 850.86 million. The most represented countries are the United States (16%) and the United Kingdom (12.6%). In 2011 Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Delhi were the most popular states for foreign tourists. Domestic tourists visited the states Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu most frequently. Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai and Agra (Taj Mahal ) have been the four most visited cities of India by foreign tourists during the year 2011.

Sport

In India, several traditional indigenous sports remain fairly popular, such as kabaddi, kho kho, pehlwani (Kushti wrestling) and gilli-danda. Some of the earliest forms of Asian martial arts, such as kalarippayattu, musti yuddha, silambam, and marma adi, originated in India. Chess, commonly held to have originated in India as chaturaṅga, is regaining widespread popularity with the rise in the number of Indian grandmasters. Pachisi, from which parcheesi derives, was played on a giant marble court by Akbar.

The improved results garnered by the Indian Davis Cup team and other Indian tennis players in the early 2010s have made tennis increasingly popular in the country. India has a comparatively strong presence in shooting sports, and has won several medals at the Olympics, the World Shooting Championships, and the Commonwealth Games. Other sports in which Indians have succeeded internationally include badminton, boxing, and wrestling. Football is popular in West Bengal, Goa, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and the north-eastern states.

Field hockey in India is administered by Hockey India. The Indian national Hockey Team won the 1975 Hockey World Cup and have, as of 2012, taken eight gold, one silver, and two bronze Olympic medals, making it the sport's most successful team in the Olympics.

India has also played a major role in popularising cricket. Thus, cricket is, by far, the most popular sport of India.

Wrestling in India

The Indian wrestling Association is located in New Delhi and has 26 provincial associations and also the Railway Sports Promotion Board and Services Sports Control Board. The association is leaded by the a president, a general secretary and 28 vice-presidents (one in each province). Kushti wrestling (or Pehlwani) is a 5000 year old wrestling-tradition. Since 2006, several world class wrestlers in the Olympic styles are indians.

Considered as one of the most ancient and oldest sports in the world, wrestling in India has a glorious past. Wrestling has been a popular sport in India since ancient times. Wrestling is counted amongst the most prestigious and oldest events in the Olympic Games, as it was included in the Olympics in 708 BC. In the ancient times, wrestling in India was mainly used as a wonderful way to stay physically fit. It was also used as a great way of military exercise without any weapons. Wrestling in India is also known as `dangal`, and it is the basic form of a wrestling tournament. Wrestling in India is most famously known as Malla-Yuddha. There are also mentions of wrestling in the ancient times. These can be found in the great epic of Indian history. Mahabharata has a huge mention about the game of wrestling in India. One of the premier characters in Mahabharata, Bhima was considered to be a great wrestler of that time, and some of the other great wrestlers included Jarasandha, Duryodhan, Karna, etc. In the other Indian epic, Ramayana also mentions about wrestling in India and Hanuman is described as one of the greatest wrestlers of that time. The 13th century Malla Purana has the reference of a group of Gujarati Brahmin wrestlers known as Jyesthimallas.

The indian world class wrestlers: Sushil Kumar, Amit Kumar and Yogeswar Dutt.

India at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London

 The Indian Olympic Association sent the nation's largest delegation to the Games in Olympic history. A total of 83 athletes, 60 men and 23 women, competed in 13 sports. Men's field hockey was the only team-based sport in which India had its representation in these Olympic games. This was India's most successful Olympics in terms of total medal tally, having won a total of 6 medals (2 silver and 4 bronze), doubling the nation's previous record (3 medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics). Two medals each were awarded to the athletes in shooting and Wrestler and Olympic bronze medalist Sushil Kumar managed to claim another medal by winning silver in the men's freestyle wrestling. The Indian Olympic Association also appointed him to be the nation's flag bearer at the opening ceremony.

The Indian Wrestling League

The Wrestling Federation of India and their Commercial Partner, Sporty Solutionz (P) Ltd, announced the launch of the biggest pro wrestling league in the world,
the Indian Wrestling League (more).

International Situation

Since 1948, 68 Indian wrestlers have participated in the Olympics. 1952 Late Jadhav won the bronze medal. Wrestling has changed a lot since then and it was a long dry spell for India until in 2008 Sushil Kumar made ​​in Beijing with a bronze medal in his country for enthusiasm. He has caused a huge wrestling boom  with his success.In London 2012 Kumar continued with silver ( 66Kg Freestyle ) his winning streak continues and Yogeshwar Dutt contributed bronze at the best result of the Indian wrestling Association .

Indian wrestlers were able to win 8 medals so far at the World Championships in the adult categorie. The first World Cup medal won Chand Udey 1961 in Yokohama ( Bronze) in the lightweight (67 kg). Six years later in 1967  in New Delhi Bishmbhr Singh (57 kg Cat.) won silver. After almost forty years of drought it was a woman , Alka Tomar on the 2006 World Championships in Guangzhou, China, won a Broncemedal  (55 kg )  for India. The Free Styler Ramesh Kumar surprised 2009 Herning with bronze (74 kg) . In 2010, the first World Cup title for India was then due. Sushil Kumar triumphed in Moscow in the lightweight (66 kg freestyle). The World Championships 2013 in Budapest should be the biggest triumph in the Indian wrestling history. Amit Kumar won silver to 55Kg and Bajrang Punia Bronze up to 60 kg each freestyle. Sandeep Tulsi Yadav won bronze medal in the 66 Kg – limit. (the first World Cup medal in Greco / Roman style for India).

National Situation

India is in the international wrestling scene the nation with by far the largest increase in performance in recent years. The success triggered a wrestling boom in India,
has probably not yet reached its climax. The billions of people from Bengal has the potential to become a leading nation in the wrestling world because of its mass and its wrestling tradition.
The best Wrestlers such as Sushil Kumar-are members of the "Railway Sports Promotion Board".
The athletes are formally railway staff, but have professional training conditions. This is exactly how the "Services Sports Control Board" works, which also promotes many national top wrestlers. Top Province of associations are Haryana and Delhi.

 Province Associations of India:

Bihar Wrestling Association
Chandigarh UT Wrestling Association
Chhattisgarh Wrestling Association
Delhi Amateur Wrestling Association
Wrestling Association of Goa
Gujarat State Wrestling Association
Haryana Wrestling Association
Himachal Pradesh Wrestling Association
Jammu & Kashmir Wrestling Association
Jhakhand State Wrestling Association
Karnataka Wrestling Association
Kerala State Wrestling Association
M. P. Amateur Wrestling Association
Maharashtra State Wrestling Association
Manipur Wrestling Association
Mizoram Wrestling Association
Nagaland Wrestling Association
Orissa Wrestling Association
Punjab Wrestling Association
Railway Sports Promotion Board
Rajasthan Wrestling Association
Services Sports Control Board
Tamilnadu State Amateur Wrestling Association
U.P. Wrestling Association
Wrestling Association of Uttarakhand
West Bengal Wrestling Association
Wrestling Association of Tripura

Wrestling Federation of India

Wrestling Federation of India

4/23, III Floor, East Patel Nagar,
Near Hotel Siddharth,
New Delhi-110008
Tel. No. +91 11 25732552,
fax No. +91 11 25732551

 
Homepage Wrestling Federation of India (english)
http://wrestlingfederationofindia.com/

 
Homepage Indian Olimpic Asociation (english)
http://www.olympic.ind.in/