New Delhi:
Four foreign wrestling coaches have been hired to guide the Indian team in the lead up to the 2026 Asian Games and with an eye on the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
Georgian Emzarios Shako Bentinidis, who was the personal coach of Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Bajrang Punia, has been chosen for the freestyle team. Russian Gogi Koguashvili, an Olympic medallist and five-time world champion, will train the Greco-Roman wrestlers. Japan’s Kosei Akaishi, a two-time Olympic medallist, has been appointed the women’s team coach, while USA’s Ian Butler will serve as the high-performance director.
One reason for hiring foreign coaches is to get the top wrestlers to train within the country at national camps. There was a growing trend of Indian wrestlers camping overseas with personal foreign coaches. Women elite wrestlers have been visiting Japan while Dagestan in Russia was a preferred destination for India’s freestyle wrestlers, who would mostly go for individual training programmes.
Last year, when the national camps restarted, WFI denied permission to a few wrestlers to travel overseas and train independently by missing the national camp. WFI had spoken to SAI’s TOPS division on the issue and they agreed to rope in foreign coaches instead. Training in national camps would allow the coaches to monitor the wrestlers’ training programmes and get updates on injuries.
{{/usCountry}}Last year, when the national camps restarted, WFI denied permission to a few wrestlers to travel overseas and train independently by missing the national camp. WFI had spoken to SAI’s TOPS division on the issue and they agreed to rope in foreign coaches instead. Training in national camps would allow the coaches to monitor the wrestlers’ training programmes and get updates on injuries.
{{/usCountry}}The coaches were finalised by WFI on Wednesday after a meeting with the Sports Authority of India. They will be paid a monthly salary of $7,000. This is a shift in WFI policy, which has been banking on Indian coaches since the Tokyo Olympics. Ahead of Tokyo, WFI hired foreign coaches for all three disciplines in 2019, but their tenures did not end fruitfully.
Under Bentinidis, Punia reached his peak, winning the Asian Games gold, multiple medals at the world championships, and the Olympic bronze. While Bentinidis was working as Punia’s personal coach, his relations with WFI were strained.
Bentinidis was very keen on guiding the Indian team although he had apprehensions about the past differences. However, WFI spoke to him and said they wanted to make a fresh start.
Bentinidis could be the first coach to join the team with the others also expected to join at the earliest. One of the problems while deciding on the coaches was communication. A translator will be hired for the Japanese coach. HPD Butler will act as a bridge between the coaches.