10 arm-wrestlers to watch out for at Pro Panja League 2022

The ranking tournament has had more than 1100 people register themselves from different parts of the country.

The stage is set for the 2022 edition of Pro Panja League's highly-anticipated Ranking Tournament to take place between 22nd July and 24th July in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh. Around 1100 arm-wrestlers registered their names for the tournament this time around, from all parts of the country, with some of the national and state-level Champions also making themselves available for the prestigious competition. International arm-wrestler Michael Todd, who has won 23 World Championships, will also be arriving on the first day of the competition in Gwalior to kick off the tournament.

Here are the top 10 arm-wrestlers (in no particular order) to watch out for at Pro Panja League Ranking Tournament 2022:

Sachin Goyal (Madhya Pradesh)

Sachin Goyal, who hails from Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, has won 4 Gold National Medals and 2 National Silver medals. He also won the Silver medal in the 80 kg weight class in Pro Panja League's first-ever Ranking Tournament in 2020 in New Delhi. He also became the Champion in the same weight category at the Sheru Classic Arm-Wrestling Championship in 2021 and was also crowned the ‘Champion of Champions’ at the same event. Sachin also won the 90 kg category Gold medal in the Sheru Classic Arm-Wrestling Championship in June 2022.

Manish Kumar (Madhya Pradesh)

Competing in the Specially-Abled category, Manish Kumar has won six World Championships Gold medals, and 19 National Gold medals. He won the Gold medal at the inaugural Pro Panja League Ranking Tournament in 2020. Manish Kumar then competed at the Pro Panja Mega Matches-1 where he won against Buta Singh. He also won the Gold medal at the 2022 Sheru Classic Arm-Wrestling Championship. For his services to the state in the sport of arm-wrestling, Kumar was also honoured with the Madhya Pradesh government’s Vikram Award for sportspersons in 2007.

Karaj Virk (Haryana)

Karaj Virk won the gold medal in the 80 kg weight category in the inaugural PPL event which took place in New Delhi in 2020. He then fought Sachin Goyal in the 80 kg category at the PPL Mega Matches-1 where he defeated him in a hard-fought five-round bout. He recently fought at the 2022 Sheru Classic Arm-Wrestling Championship where he won a Bronze medal in the 100 kg category.

Siddharth Malakar (Assam)

Siddharth Malakar was the 90 kg champion in the PPL’s first ranking tournament which took place at the Thyagraj Stadium in New Delhi in 2020. He then took part in Pro Panja League Mega Matches-2 which took place onboard the Majestic Pride Casino Ship in Goa where he defeated Sunil Kumar to become the ‘Super Champ’. He also won a gold medal in the 44th Nationals which took place in Hyderabad.

Sanjay Deswal (New Delhi)

Hailing from New Delhi, Sanjay Deswal is a National Gold medalist and 10 times Delhi ‘Champion of Champions’. He also won a Gold medal at the 2021 Sheru Classic Arm-Wrestling Championship which took place in Mumbai. Sanjay Deswal also defeated Syed Mahaboob Ali of Hyderabad at the Pro Panja Mega Matches-1. He was the silver medalist in the inaugural Pro Panja League Ranking Tournament 2020 in New Delhi.

Chetna Sharma (Assam)

Chetna Sharma, who hails from Assam, currently works as a software engineer in the special headquarters of the Assam Police. She started arm wrestling in 2011, competing for over three years at the district and state levels. In her stellar career, Chetna has achieved several plaudits to her name including becoming the 2013 National Champion in the Lightweight division, 2016 Sheru Classic Champion, 2017 Right Hand National champion, and 2018 Right and Left Hand National Champion.

In 2019 she won at the national level in Chhattisgarh. Chetna also won the 2019 Champion of Champions Miss India Arm Wrestling event. She won gold in the PPL Ranking Tournament in New Delhi in 2020 and also became a super match-winner in PPL Mega Matches-1. Chetna Sharma was the star of the night when India's premium arm-wrestling competition arrived at the IIT Bombay's Sports Fest 'Aavhan' in April, where she emerged victorious competing against the male students of IIT.

Sameer VT (Kerala)

Sameer VT started arm-wrestling nearly 23 years ago and he is currently the 13-time Indian Arm-Wrestling Federation National Champion. He is also an Asian Silver Medalist and he was also the 2019 Captain of the Indian team. He has also won three National Championships in Qatar. In 2021, he defeated Harman Mann in the Pro Panja Mega Matches-1 event which took place in Mumbai.

Yogesh Choudhary (Haryana)

Yogesh Choudhary, who hails from Haryana, participated in the 19th Delhi State Arm Wrestling Championship in March 2021 after being introduced to the sport by her husband. After finding out about PPL, which gives the best platform for Arm Wrestling in India, Yogesh participated in the Pro Panja League X Sheru Classic Arm-Wrestling Championship where she won a Gold medal. She also won a gold medal at the 44th Arm Wrestling Nationals in Hyderabad and then participated in the 2022 Pro Panja League X Sheru Classic Arm-Wrestling Championship where she won a Gold medal in the women’s Above 65 kg category.

Akash Kumar (Uttar Pradesh)

Aakash Kumar is one of the most well-known names in the Indian Arm-Wrestling circuit. He recently won the gold medal in the 70 kg category at the 2022 Sheru Classic Arm-Wrestling Championship which took place in New Delhi. He also won the ‘Champion of Champions’ in the same tournament.

Jincy Jose (Kerala)

Six-time National Champion Jincy Jose has continued to compete in the sport of arm wrestling even after becoming a mother. She started her career with district tournaments in 2014. Her husband met with an accident two years ago and was confined to a wheelchair. Still, he continued Jincy in her sporting journey. In recent months, Jincy competed in the Pro Panja League, defeating Shruti Bawa in the Pro Panja Mega Matches - 1 that took place in Mumbai in February. Now, Jincy is also training her daughter Anslet Jose in arm-wrestling.

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