Wrestling in a league of its own

Sabi Hussain

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 27

Another franchise-based league made its debut in India on Monday. Pro Wrestling League (PWL) is the latest addition to the growing list of private leagues in the country. The league will see top stars of Indian wrestling, including double Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar and London Games’ bronze medallist Yogeshwar Dutt, in action. Besides, many top wrestlers from across the globe, too, would be a part of the league.

The league will offer $3 million (Rs 18 crore) as prize money, making it the world’s richest wrestling competition.

PWL, which will run from November 8 to 29, will feature six city-based franchises, with each team consisting of 11 players — six Indians and five international participants. PWL will be played in the best-of-nine-format, with three rounds of three minutes each, separated by a one-minute break.

All teams will play each other at least once over the 21-day event, which will feature 15 league games, two semifinals and the final. The base price for each team has been set at Rs 3 crore. The six franchises would be finalised by September 7. The players’ auction is slated for September 15.

It will follow the Olympics and United World Wrestling (UWW) rules and regulations. A player will get half-a-point bonus for ‘fall’ and a ‘point for superiority’, which will be established on a 15-point lead.

“PWL will help popularise wrestling. Earlier, the Indian wrestlers had to travel to foreign countries for exposure, but the league will help them compete with the best in the business at home. This is a great opportunity for our juniors to learn from the Olympic and World Championship medallists. A league of this magnitude was long overdue,” said Sushil.

There’s no denying the fact that a wrestling league should have started much earlier; ideally when the idea was first mooted in 2012 after the London Games.

Coming as it does just about a year ahead of the Rio Olympics, the timing raises a few questions and eyebrows. At a time when the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) should have been busy preparing the grapplers for the Rio Olympics, it chose to launch a professional league in collaboration with Pro-Sportify.

With six Olympic qualifiers and other invitational tournaments lined up before the Rio Games, the wrestlers would hardly get time off to rest and recuperate in between the Olympic preparations.

There’s a greater risk of picking an injury during the league due to tight scheduling and fatigue. Wrestlers like Sushil, Yogeshwar Dutt, Amit Kumar, Geeta and Babita Phogat are key to India’s success at the Olympics and any injury could risk their participation in the mega event.

As it is, Sushil is recovering from a shoulder injury, which forced him to opt out from the World Championships some time back.

“Yes, I will play in the league. This is happening in my country and it will provide me an opportunity to work on my weaknesses,” said Sushil, on being asked if he was ready to participate in the league.

When WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh was asked why they couldn’t wait until the Rio Games were over, he said: “PWL is a step in the right direction. Of late, the Indian wrestlers have been doing really well and this will help them in their preparations.”