Top Stories of the Decade

Sushil Kumar Wins World Championship, Awakens Wrestling Powerhouse in India

Tuesday, December 24, 2019 - 14:12 By Vinay Siwach

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (December 24) -- India had never won a gold medal at a global wrestling event. The drought was such no one seemed to put money on any wrestler to even a medal, forget the top one. Indians weren't supposed to dominate world events in any sport.

That was about to change. On September 12, 2010, Sushil KUMAR (IND) broke all barriers to become India's first-ever gold medal winner at the World Championships in Moscow, Russia. In the 66kg weight category, Kumar would put up a commanding performance and beat Alan GOGAEV (RUS) 3-1 in the final in front of a hostile home crowd.

On the back of his bronze medal at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, Kumar arrived in Moscow as a dark-house, like he had in all global competitions. No one gave him a chance in India. But as the day progressed, the 36-year-old raised hopes.

He beat Anastasios AKRITIDIS (GRE), 6-2, in the opening round followed by Martin DAUM (GER), 4-1. Buyanjavyn BATZORIG (MGL) failed to challenge in quarter-final and lost 9-1 before Kumar eked out a close 4-3 win against Jabrayil HASANOV (AZE) in the semifinal.

"2010 was the best year," Kumar said. "Wherever I went, I won gold. Commonwealth Games, Asian Championships, World Championships. I beat a Russian wrestler in Russia."

These things were unheard of in India. Kumar's victory was hailed because no one had heard that an Indian wrestler can go to Russia and defeat their wrestler to win a gold medal. 

And if the world thought Kumar's bronze in Beijing was a fluke, he changed that and gave a new life to Indian wrestling which was struggling with doping scandals, nepotism and inter-federation politics. His medal put wrestling on India's sports map and perhaps the top one too.


Kids thronged to akhadas in villages in Haryana, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. Not only boys, but parents were ready to break social stigmas and send their girls to akhadas, a place where girls are seldom seen. New wrestling pockets emerged and broke the dominance of traditional powerhouses like Haryana and Maharashtra.

The result was seen three years later when India won three medals at 2013 World Championships and this year in Nur-Sultan, it won five, the best-ever performance.

Kumar added a silver medal at London Olympics to become India's first-ever individual to win multiple medals at the Games. But it was before that India needed a sporting hero. It got one on that September evening in Moscow.

#development

UWW-ISF Partnership Empowers Physical Education Teachers through Wrestling

Tuesday, July 21, 2026 - 11:09 By United World Wrestling Press

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NEW DELHI, India (July 20) --  United World Wrestling partnered with International School Sports Federation (ISF) to pilot a new training programme for physical education teachers.

This pilot programme was organized in New Delhi, India by the School Games Federation of India (SGFI) in collaboration with the Directorate of Education (Sports Branch), Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD). The goal of the programme was to introduce educational wrestling methodologies to physical education teachers in hopes to develop wrestling at the grassroots level. This course was delivered by certified UWW Educator, Mr. Ahmed KHEDHRI (TUN).

The pilot programme consisted of four separate four-day sessions that were attended by a total of 88 participants from diverse sporting backgrounds. Many of them were physical education teachers and some were educators in various sport disciplines that included boxing, judo, cricket, hockey, football kabaddi, swimming, basketball, and athletics.

Wrestling

These educators completed the ISF-UWW Level 1 Coaching Course for Physical Education Teachers. Each four-day course had theoretical and practical sessions.

The theoretical sessions focused on wrestling in physical education, roles and responsibilities of a coach, characteristics of effective coaching, learning and teaching methodologies, implementing the Wrestle4Fun programme, and youth development strategies.

The participants then applied their knowledge in the practical sessions. In those sessions, they delivered discovery games, implemented Wrestle4Fun activities, learned the seven basic skills of wrestling, and participated in skill demonstrations techniques.

"Throughout the courses, the participants demonstrated a high level of motivation, commitment, and active engagement," Khedhri said. “One of the most significant outcomes of the course was its ability to bring together participants from diverse backgrounds and equip them with the knowledge and skills required to teach and coach wrestling.”

Wrestling

Wrestling participant Ramashish YADAV said that the course will help him both in PE and wrestling coaching.

“It helped me significantly improve my personal skills as both a coach and a physical education teacher in wrestling," Yadav said.

Shipra SRIVASTAVA, a PE teacher in hocket, said that she learnt how to increase children's interest in sports.

"The UWW Level 1 Course taught me how Wrestle4Fun and Discovery Games can be used to increase children’s interest in sport and make it easier to teach any skill,” Srivastava said.

Another PE teacher from basketball Gokulesh SHARMA also expressed that the course was helpful to develop interest of children.

“The course was excellent," Sharma said. "The best part was learning how to develop children’s skills through wrestling while keeping it fun, specifically, how to maximize involvement of young children and foster their mental and physical development in an enjoyable way."

Wrestle4Fun is developmentally appropriate for all age levels and designed to support girls’ and boys’ physical literacy journey. It has five stages based on different developmental levels. Each stage has 15 lessons. In total, there are 75 lessons with over 200 games and activities.

The entire Wrestle4Fun programme can be found on the Academy platform. The UWW Academy can found here at UWW Academy.