Punjab in Sports: Unified Punjab (Punjab, Haryana) - A Hub of Wrestling

Part 5 of 9 Part series-5/9

In the pre-Independence era, Punjab was a powerhouse in wrestling, with Lahore serving as a major hub for the sport. Wealthy patrons of wrestling were the driving force behind establishing Lahore as a significant wrestling center. 

However, with Partition, Lahore and the world-famous wrestler Gulam Mohammad 'Gama Phelwan' went to Pakistan.

In the Pre-Independence era, Rashid Anwar was the first wrestler from Punjab to compete in the Olympics (1936 Berlin Games).

In the mid-1950s, Punjab regained prominence in wrestling, thanks mainly to the region that now falls within present-day Haryana.

Breaking Maharashtra's dominance in wrestling, half of the wrestling squad in the 1956 Olympics hailed from Punjab.

Legendary wrestler Lila Ram, who hailed from the village Mandola, then in Hisar district of Punjab, took the Indian Army route to compete in the Olympics.

The other three wrestlers from unified Punjab in 1956 Olympics squad were Bakshish Singh, Devi Singh and Ram Sarup.

Punjab had a strong presence in wrestling in the Olympic squads because of the army wrestlers, largely coming from the area that is now Haryana. 

In 1960 Olympics, out of five wrestlers, three, Udey Chand, Madho Singh and Sajjan Singh, were from unified Punjab.

Udey Chand, who became the first Indian wrestler to win a medal in the World Championship (bronze in 1961), and Sajjan Singh were from the area that is now Haryana.  And Madho Singh was from Hoshiarpur.

After Haryana was carved out of Punjab on November 1, 1966, the newly formed agrarian state dominated the wrestling scene and gradually became another Olympic powerhouse. Haryana's contribution to Olympic medals includes sports disciplines boxing (Vijender Singh - Bronze), wrestling (Yogeswar Dutt – Bronze, Sakshi Malik – Bronze, Bajrang Punia – Bronze and Ravi Kumar – Silver), athletics (Neeraj Chopra – Gold), and two hockey players, Sumit and Surinder Kumar, who were part of the men’s hockey bronze medal-winning squad at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Post-1966, Punjab has also produced some top wrestlers, including Kartar Singh, who competed in three Olympics (1976 to 1984).

Continued...

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