Asia's biggest arm-wrestling tournament set to take place in Gwalior
After the ranking tournament, the arm-wrestlers will be drafted into teams for the Main League, which is expected to begin by October.
Pro Panja League, India's biggest arm-wrestling tournament, which is in affiliation with the Indian Arm-Wrestling Federation, will take place on July 22 at Lakshmibai National Institute of Physical Education, in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh. It is a two-day event and the preliminary stages of the competition will take place on July 23, and the finals a day after.
After the ranking tournament, the arm-wrestlers will be drafted into teams for the Main League, which is expected to begin by October. Between the ranking tournament and the main league, mega matches between top-ranked arm-wrestlers will also be conducted.
"The Pro Panja Ranking Tournament is our way of giving every player a level playing field to get into the League and ensure the only thing that counts is the talent and strength they show on the Arm-Wrestling table. We will be making the six teams for Pro Panja League after the Ranking Tournament via a draft system where the top 18 players in all the 10 weight categories will get into the League. May the best athlete win," said Pro Panja League co-founder Parvin Dabas.
The 2022 edition of Pro Panja saw massive interest from arm-wrestlers from across the country with around 1121 participants registering for the event. Compared to the previous edition, the number of registrations saw an exponential growth this season - nearly three times of the ranking event.
Of all the participants who have registered, 897 are Men, while 174 are Women, and 37 belong to the specially-abled category.
Kerala turned out to be the state with the maximum number of participants registering, with a total of 180 arm wrestlers (Women: 33, Men:147) entering their names. Uttar Pradesh (140), and Madhya Pradesh (125) are the two other states which saw the most participation.