Wrestling brings fame and fortune to sons of soil

Wrestling bouts organised in small towns and villages of Punjab are bringing in not just recognition but big money to wrestlers, prompting youngsters to turn pro and carve out a career in the traditional sport. After turning professional, wrestlers earn an average of Rs 5-8 lakh per annum. Earnings can go up to Rs 60 lakh for leading Punjabi wrestlers.

Though they take part in wrestling competitions organised across the country — from J&K to Karnataka — the maximum money they earn from Punjab villages, where Chinjj or wrestling bouts are organised in the traditional format, on mud. If Haryanvi wrestlers have dominated wrestling on the mat, Punjabi grapplers have maintained their hold over the traditional form of the mud wrestling.

Active support from the government and sports associations has helped cricket, badminton, football, kabaddi and boxing to a great extent. The sports have got dedicated leagues and state-of-the-art infrastructure. This significant transition has also been rewarding for players who earn a handsome amount of money in their respective professional sport.

However, when it comes to wrestling, similar help from the government is missing. Yet Jaskanwar Singh ‘Jassa Patti’, Bhupinder Ajnala, Pritpal Singh Phagwara and Parveen Kohali of Ajnala are big names in akharas across the country. They have earned name and money by dint of their hard work and superb performance.

Impressed by their wrestling skills, young players from Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and other parts of the country are coming to train under them.

Jaskanwar Singh, aka Jassa Patti, (31), the 2016 All India University wrestling gold medallist, faced an objection for wearing ‘patka’ at an international wrestling bout in Turkey in 2018 from tournament management. While he was given the time to remove the ‘patka’, the Sabat Surat Sikh player chose Sikhi over the competition. Back home, he decided to turn professional by participating in every dangal in the country. Since then he has been solely focusing on mud kushti.

Popular as Jassa Patti, he was initiated into wrestling by his wrestler-father Salwinder Singh Chhinda Patti, Rustam-e-Hind, at the Man Akhara, which was set up by the second Sikh Guru, Guru Angad Dev, in Tarn Taran’s Khadoor Sahib area. Guru Angad Dev had set up the akhara to instill martial skills into the Sikh community.

Jassa Patti has won 157 motorbikes, 11 tractors, 11 cars, 60 buffaloes, two mares, one Thar, one Jeep, besides cash prizes, in his 19-year-long wrestling career so far.

To participate in each dangal in India requires a wrestler travel over two lakh km a year. One-fourth of share from the total earnings goes to foot travel expenses and paying salaries to team members. Apart from perspiring on the mud, wrestlers suffer sprains, fractured limbs and many a time had to go under the knife.

Jassa Patti’s ligaments were torn seven times, joints were dislocated, scaphoid bone got fractured, requiring a surgery and meniscus had to be removed during a knee surgery.

Bhupinder Ajnala (36) is running an academy at his native village Bholion where he trains about 30 youngsters. Ajnala trounced Maharashtra’s Sikandar Sheikh and Iran’s Mirza. He suffered several injuries as well.

There are mediocre wrestlers who have made wrestling their career too. Amritsar’s Surjit Singh and Sahil are earning between Rs 6-10 lakh annually by taking part in wrestling bouts.

All of them are unanimous in their view that the Punjab government is not doing enough to support wrestling in the state. Only players who figure in Olympics are given government jobs, while national and international players are ignored.

On the other hand, each Haryana village has two wrestling mats, besides a mud ground, on an average. The Haryana government offers scholarships to budding players, jobs at entry and mediocre level besides quality infrastructure.