Jun 28, 2009
Jun 22, 2009
Sons of the Soil
Welcome to Guru Hanuman Vyayamshala, home to some of the best wrestling talent you will find anywhere in India. "Sudesh Singh… Satpal Singh… Kartar Singh… Anup Pahelwan… Sujeet Mann… Premnath… Mahavir Singh… Rajiv Tomar…"-the names roll off coach Maha Singh Rao's tongue. All of them are among the Arjuna awardees from the akhada. Some are accomplished wrestlers at the international level-including the Olympics, Commonwealth Games and Asiad.
Rao, a Sports Authority of India coach, is a winner of the Dronacharya award, the country's highest honour in the field of sports coaching. The other coach at this akhada is the venerable Ramdhan Pahelwan, recipient of many national and international titles in wrestling.
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Akharas in Punjab
Sons of the Soil
by Ramesh Vinayak
In the rural sport milieu of Punjab, akharas have always been an institution by themselves. These traditional wrestling centres have not only promoted the sporting culture, but have also honed the skills of wrestlers known for their exploits in the national and international arenas.
With wrestler Sushil Kumar winning a bronze medal at the Beijing Olympics, the interest in wrestling has been re-kindled, as is evident from the rising number of trainees at the akharas.
(READ MORE)
by Ramesh Vinayak
In the rural sport milieu of Punjab, akharas have always been an institution by themselves. These traditional wrestling centres have not only promoted the sporting culture, but have also honed the skills of wrestlers known for their exploits in the national and international arenas.
With wrestler Sushil Kumar winning a bronze medal at the Beijing Olympics, the interest in wrestling has been re-kindled, as is evident from the rising number of trainees at the akharas.
(READ MORE)
