Punjab wrestling laid low by cash-rich sand dangals: Sondhi

Tribune News Service

Patiala, February 18

When wrestling was introduced into the Asiad programme at the second Asian Games in Manila in 1954, all three wrestlers who represented India were from Punjab. But things have changed a lot over the years. The last Punjab wrestler to represent India in the Olympics was Palwinder Singh Cheema, at the Athens Games in 2004. After that, only a few grapplers from Punjab have been selected to represent India in various international events.

Hit by dangals 

Wrestling in Punjab is at its lowest ebb, said former chief national coach PR Sondhi. Sondhi, whose character in the movie Dangal was portrayed in a controversial light, believes that things changed for Punjab after 2006.

“Earlier, Punjab used to be known as the land of pehalwans,” said Sondhi, attending the Punjab Cadet Championship here. “Punjab used to dominate the sport of wrestling (in India) ever since it was introduced in international events.” Sondhi said one big reason behind Punjab’s decline is that the state’s wrestlers and coaches focus more on sand-pit wrestling, or “dangals”, than on indoor wrestling on mats. “Wrestlers and private trainers focus mainly on local dangals, due to the big amounts of money involved in these events,” he said.

“I sometimes get angry when wrestlers in the state take more pride in calling themselves Rustom-e-Hind and Hind Kesari, than being known as the national champion or Commonwealth Games medallist,” said Sondhi. Sondhi believes that dangal wrestling, held in villages, towns and cities in the state, is a multi-crore rupee industry. “I estimate that the dangal wrestling industry in Punjab is worth around Rs 200 crores,” he said. “In almost every village of Punjab, up to five dangals take place in a year. Prize money worth lakhs of rupees and other incentives are given to the winners in every competition.”

Focus on mats

Watching the young competitors in action today, Sondhi had words of praise for the youngsters. “Their coaches should motivate them to participate more in mat competitions, instead of sand wrestling,” Sondhi added. “Punjab should take proactive measures to save the game in the state.” Incidentally, Harpreet Singh is the solitary wrestler from Punjab to shine in international events in recent times. He is one of the two Punjab wrestlers in the Indian national camp which, most of the time, is dominated by wrestlers from the neighbouring Haryana.