The year 2025 will be remembered as one of the most defining and contradictory phases in Indian wrestling’s modern history.
It was a season that exposed the stagnation of the senior elite on the world stage, even as a powerful new generation of junior and Under-23 wrestlers announced itself with authority. Layered beneath the competitive results was a deeper institutional churn: governance reform, stricter selection norms, and an attempt to restore professional discipline to a sport long reliant on individual brilliance rather than systemic rigour .
At the senior level, the gap between domestic dominance and global competitiveness became impossible to ignore. The World Wrestling Championships in Zagreb were a sobering benchmark. India fielded a full-strength contingent across men’s freestyle, women’s freestyle and Greco-Roman categories, yet returned with just one medal. That lone podium finish came from Antim Panghal in women’s 53kg freestyle, underlining both her consistency and the broader struggles of the senior squad.
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Panghal’s bronze was no accident. Her Zagreb campaign reflected tactical maturity clinical early wins, composure in close bouts, and a commanding bronze-medal playoff victory over Sweden’s Jonna Malmgren. With this result, Panghal became only the second Indian woman after Vinesh Phogat to win multiple World Championship medals, reinforcing her status as the backbone of the current senior programme. Beyond Zagreb, her 2025 season included medals at the Asian Championships and golds on the ranking series circuit, marking her as one of India’s most reliable performers in an otherwise difficult year.
Elsewhere, however, warning signs were evident. In men’s freestyle, Deepak Punia, Mukul Dahiya and Aman Sehrawat failed to convert promise into podium finishes. Greco-Roman wrestlers suffered repeated technical-superiority defeats, exposing a clear deficit against European and East Asian specialists. The results pointed less to a lack of effort and more to structural issues weight management, international exposure, and preparation cycles misaligned with global standards.
The most damaging episode came off the mat. Aman Sehrawat’s disqualification at the World Championships for failing to make weight 1.7kg over the limit triggered a disciplinary storm. The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) responded with a one-year suspension, later revoked after an unconditional apology. The incident was not isolated; similar lapses at junior events forced the federation to confront a systemic culture of risky weight-cutting.
In response, WFI abolished domestic weight concessions, mandated strict camp supervision, and issued formal warnings to personal coaches signalling that accountability would no longer rest on athletes alone.
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While the seniors faltered, India’s junior and age-group wrestlers delivered a season of extraordinary promise. At the U23 World Championships in Novi Sad, India collected nine medals, highlighted by Sujeet Kalkal’s gold in men’s 65kg freestyle. His 10-0 demolition of senior world medallist Umidjon Jalolov was the most emphatic statement by an Indian male wrestler at world level in 2025, positioning Kalkal as a natural heir to Bajrang Punia in the category.
The women’s U23 team went even further, winning the overall team title for the first time since 2017. Medals across weight categories, including silvers from Sarika and Hansika Lamba and bronzes from Nishu and Priya Malik, demonstrated depth rather than dependence on one standout star. The consistency suggested that India’s women’s wrestling pipeline is now structurally robust.
That trend continued at the U20 World Championships in Bulgaria, where India returned with nine medals, including golds for Tapasya Gahlawat and the prodigious Kajal. At just 17, Kajal’s ability to shift weights and still dominate at world level marked her as one of the most exciting prospects in global wrestling. The statistical evidence was compelling: athletes succeeding at both U20 and U23 levels historically translate better to senior success, strengthening optimism for the 2028 and 2032 Olympic cycles.
Regionally, India was dominant. At the Asian U17 and U23 Championships in Vietnam, Indian wrestlers amassed a staggering 35 medals, including 18 golds. The women’s teams swept titles, while men’s freestyle and Greco-Roman also asserted continental superiority. The feeder system rooted in akhadas, state academies and increasingly structured junior programmes was functioning at full capacity.
Parallel to these competitive shifts was a critical administrative reset. The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports lifted the suspension on the WFI in March 2025, restoring its status as the national federation under strict conditions. This paved the way for the most significant selection overhaul in decades. The new policy summed up by “No National Camp, No India Jersey” mandated camp attendance, ended exemptions for star wrestlers, and required domestic medals for international trial eligibility. Even Olympic medallists were brought back into the domestic grind, re-establishing merit as the primary currency.
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Commercially, wrestling also took a step toward modernisation. The revival of the Pro Wrestling League, slated for January 2026, is designed as a bridge between junior success and senior sustainability. With equal representation for women, international participation, and franchise-backed financial security, the league is intended to professionalise careers while improving visibility.
In sum, Indian wrestling’s 2025 season was not a decline but a correction. Senior struggles exposed the cost of complacency, while junior excellence validated years of grassroots investment. Governance reform, though uncomfortable, laid the foundation for accountability and professionalism.
If the transition from junior dominance to senior consistency can be managed without repeating old mistakes, 2025 may ultimately be remembered as the year Indian wrestling rebuilt itself painfully, but purposefully.
