NEW DELHI: Pro Panja League, India’s biggest arm-wrestling tournament, which is in affiliation with the Indian Arm-Wrestling Federation, Monday announced the date and venue of the ranking Tournament.
The event, which will see the participation of over 1,100 arm-wrestlers, will be the biggest arm-wrestling competition in Asia. It will kick off on 22nd July at Lakshmibai National Institute of Physical Education, in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh with the weigh-in ceremony of all the participating arm-wrestlers. The preliminary stages of the competition will take place on 23rd July, and the finals will take place on 24th July.
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 Pro Panja arm-wrestlers will also be conducted.
Further explaining the process, Pro Panja League co-founder Parvin Dabas said: “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.”
The 2022 edition of Pro Panja has seen interest from arm-wrestlers from across the country with 1,121 registering for the event for the upcoming season. Compared to the previous edition, the number of registrations has seen 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.
