Contributions Welcome

This blog belongs to everyone interested in preserving and promoting traditional Indian wrestling. Please feel free to contribute photos, videos, links to news articles or your own blog posts. E-mail contributions to kushtiwrestling@gmail.com.

Nov 24, 2011

INDO-PAK WRESTLING VIDEOS

Ali Imran VS Satinder Singh Part 1 Ali Imran VS Satinder Singh Part 2 Ali Pattanwala Vs Sutendar Singh Satinder Singh Pahelwaan Beats Pakistani Shahid Khoye Wala Pahelwaan

Pakistan no match for Indian wrestlers

Express Tribune
LAHORE: Satindar Singh won the third and final encounter of the Indo-Pak Dangal in Faisalabad, defeating Pakistan’s Ali Imran Pattanwala in a highly convincing show to lead India to victory in the wrestling event.

Singh remained unbeaten in all the three matches he took part in. The final match of the event proved to be a one-sided affair as Pattanwala looked out of sorts against a more confident Singh. The Pakistan wrestler tried to adopt a defensive approach to slow the match down. However, Singh proved to be too good for Pattanwala and managed to pin him down to register the victory just minutes after the match started. The other wrestler in the India contingent, Jagroop Singh, suffered an injury early in the event and was ruled out of the competition.

Singh defeats Shahid in Pak, India wrestling

APP

Lahore—Indian wrestler, Satinder Singh maintained the sequence of his victories in a three match dangal series by flooring down Pakistani grappler Shahid Khoaiwala to take 2-0 lead here on Monday at Punjab stadium.

In front of a big gathering the 24-year old Indian wrestler made short work of a weak challenger,26 year old Shahid through greater anticipation and power to get two back to back victories, following up his superb run in the opener at Gujranwala.

At a specially prepared soil made “ Akhara” right in the heart of Punjab stadium, Satinder foiled an effort of Shahid to lift him upward ,quickly grabbing him from his neck and then flooring him down with a quick action, amid roaring applause from the crowd to end a short lived five minutes battle. Both the grapplers tested each other strength by locking arms in the beginning and the Indian wrestler did not give any space to the home grappler to make any advanced move.

As Shahid tried to get hold of Satinder who foiled the attempt and rather came up with a brilliant act to put him down at the soil for a out right win announced by referees of the bout, Gogi Pehqlwan and former olympian Mohammad Azam. Satinder in his first outing at Gujranwala got rid of Jani Pehalwan, The third and last dangal will be played at Gujranwala on November 23.

Before the main bout, ten bouts featuring local grapplers were held. “It was not a tough competition and I was vigilant from the start and I did not give him (Shahid) a chance to put me under pressure and as he went for his most daring effort I just dashed it and floored him down”, said Satinder after the victory. “I am delighted to be here in Lahore and I am thankful to a large gathering for coming and watching the dangal and I believe it was a very good dangal to further promote the traditional style of wrestling in Pakistan and India as well”, he added. Shahid attributed his defeat to lack of concentration and said his Indian rival demonstrated good tactics to put him under pressure eventually winning the bout.—APP

Indian wrestler Satinder defeats Pak's Khoewala

PTI
Lahore: Indian grappler Satinder Singh maintained his winning streak in a three-match wrestling series by flooring Pakistan's Shahid Khoewala at the Punjab Stadium here on Monday, allowing his country to take a 2-0 lead in the tournament.

In front of a gathering of about 15,000 people, 24-year-old Singh made short work of his 26-year-old opponent with a combination of better technique and superior power. Singh had earlier won the first match of the series played in Gujranwala. At the specially prepared 'akhara' in Punjab Stadium, Singh foiled Khoewala's attempt to lift him and then floored him with a quick action. The match lasted less than five minutes.

The third and last match will be held at Gujranwala on November 23. Before Monday’s main bout, there were 10 bouts featuring local wrestlers. "It was not a tough competition and I was vigilant from the start. I did not give (Khoewala) a chance to put me under pressure and I then floored him," Singh, who hails from Haryana, told reporters after his victory. "I am very happy to be in Pakistan as I was given great respect. Indian wrestlers should come to Pakistan. I am grateful to this large gathering for coming and watching the dangal. This will promote the traditional style of wrestling in Pakistan and India," he said. Parliamentarian Hamza Shahbaz, the son of Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, gave away the prizes.

He said, "Winning and losing is part of the beauty of sports. The reality is that there should be the victory of the people of both countries. Sports contacts, whether in wrestling or cricket, should be increased so that India and Pakistan could come closer." "If we want to live with our heads held high, we should have good relations with our neighbours. Sports is a good way to bring both countries closer," Shahbaz added. Another match scheduled for today was cancelled as Indian grappler Jagrup Singh was injured during an earlier match in Gujranwala.

Massive turn out for Indo-Pak wrestling tie

PTI
LAHORE: A massive crowd on Monday turned up for the India-Pakistan wrestling competition at the Punjab stadium, where India's Sutander Singh defeated local favourite Shahid Khoyawala amidst big roars and cheering.

Though the jam-packed stadium was clearly disappointed to see the Indian prevailing over Shahid in the main bout of the day, but the crowd displayed great sportsmanship by cheering the Indian grappler for his victory.

All the leading television channels broadcast the wrestling bout live. The son of Punjab chief minister, Shahbaz Sharif, Hamza Shahbaz was also in attendance to witness the bout. Sutander, who had also won his bout in Gujranwala two days back, was again in prime form as he took little time to counter attack and pin Shahid on the floor.

"This is sports one has to lose and one has to win and today he was fortunate. I slipped while trying a technical hold on him and he took full advantage of my fall and pinned me," Shahid, who had claimed he would floor the Indian in 10 minutes time, said. Shahid said he had prepared hard for the bout but it was not to be his day. Sutander said he was elated to win the bout and deeply touched by the warm welcome he was given by everyone.

The second Indian wrestler, Jagroop Singh did not take part in the bout because of a injury. The third phase of the Indo-Pak wrestling competition is scheduled to be held in Faisalabad later this week. Hamza told reporters after the bout that the big turnout for the matches showed how much people wanted to see the sporting contests between the two neighbouring nations. "The more we have such sporting contests the more it will help in bringing people closer to each other and sorting out our issues," he said.

Nov 20, 2011

Phoolwalon Ki Sair Dangal

By Deepak Ansuia Prasad


A festival celebrating the flower sellers of Delhi is bound to be colorful, but the annual “Phoolwalon ki Sair” in the village of Mehrauli is also noteworthy because of its long history and its greater purpose of bringing Hindus and Muslims closer together.




The festival began about 200 years ago and continued until the waning days of colonial rule, when the British put an end to it because they worried about Hindus and Muslims joining together in the struggle for independence.

In the early 1960s, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru revived the fair with the help of Padma Shree Late Yogeshwar Dayal, a member of one of the oldest and richest families of Delhi. Since his death, Ms Usha Kumar has continued the tradition.

The fair today, which is free for all to attend, has lots to offer – all kinds of food, a Ferris wheel and games for kids. There’s traditional dancing, kite flying – where 150 kites would be flown at once, kabaddi, and of course, wrestling.

One of the highlights is a show of goodwill between Hindus and Muslims. Hindus go to the shrine of renowned Muslim Sufi Bakhtiyar Kaki and lay a sheet of flowers called “foolon ki chaddar” over the tomb and Muslims reciprocate the friendly gesture by visiting the temple of Yogmaya and offering a flowery umbrella called “chatra”. I only wish this kind of festival could be held throughout India to showcase what the country is known for – a vibrant, colorful culture where people of all religion can live together peacefully.

Mr. G.S. Gulati, who for the past two decades has been organizing the wrestling event told me that each winning wrestler would receive a minimum of Rs 50/- prize and a maximum of 5000/- as the event was mainly for younger wrestlers. He told me that the final match would be fought between the best wrestlers in the dangal.

There were a number of wrestling bouts held for kids and they collected lots of prizes, which made them all very happy. A great young wrestler named Moughli won four matches. A wrestler from Mehrauli named Deepak pinned his opponent in seconds and the crowd erupted in cheers. He collected a lot of money as the spectators celebrated the victory of a local boy.

The first prize match was between Gullu Pahalwan and a wrestler from Fatehpur Akhara. The match went on for more than 30 minutes and ended in a draw as the wrestlers were getting exhausted.

The chief guest at the dangal was Pandit Yoganand Shastri the prominent leader and Hindu Brahmin who is also the president of the Phoolwalon ki Sair. He was honored with a fan of flowers and posed for pictures with the Holy Kaba of Muslims and one side and a picture of the goddess Durga on the other. He inaugurated the bouts of kushti and kabaddi and also distributed the prizes to wrestlers.

The organizers were: Ms Usha Kumar and Chairman of Sports Committee Mr. B.S. Gulati.

Other officials: Yogesh Gupta, Ram Avtar, Paras Saini, Jain Sahab Referees: Satveer Pahlwan, Kamal Pahlwan, Dhannu Pahlwan, Dhanna.

The S.H.O and other officers of the Mehrauli Police Station were responsible for security arrangements. The officers were present throughout the dangal and made sure everything went smoothly. Gulati ji, one of the organiser, asked one of the police officers, to inaugurate a bout, which he readily agreed to.