LAXMAN Singh Bhandari and Thomas Jacob recorded wins in their respectively categories on first day of 5th National Arm Wrestling and Para Arm Wrestling Tournament underway at Dr Vasantrao Deshpande hall, Civil Lines, Nagpur. Bhandari, who hails from Delhi, recorded win in Grand Master (Under-70 kg leftarm), while Kerala’s Jacob secured first place in Master 90 kg men (rightarm) categoty, by defeating their opponents. The three-day tournament will witness matches in 250 categories and the winners from here will be selected for World Championship and Asian Championship going to be held later this year.

 

The tournament which is being conducted by Maharashtra Arm Wrestling Association (MAWA) and Samta Sporting Club Nagpur under the aegis People’s Arm Wrestling Federation India was inaugurated by President of Maharashtra Armwrestling Association Preeti Jhangiani on Friday. MLA Mohan Mate, MLC Praveen Datke, actor Praveen Dabas, RTMNU Pro Vice-Chancellor Dr Sanjay Dudhe, Maharashtra Arm Wrestling Association Working President Pramod Walmandhare, Director of Wainganga College of Engineering Somdutt Karanjekar, Shrikant Dev, Laxmansinh Bhandari, Jijo Peler were the other guests present during the opening ceremony. Tournament Organising Secretary Dr Shrikant Warankar made the introductory remark and also proposed a vote of thanks.

 

Top results in each group: (In Grandmaster Men 70kg): Laxman Singh Bhandari (Delhi), Anil Bhaskar (Kerala), Kumar Shyam Kishor (Manipur); (In Grandmaster Men 80kg): Madhu AM (Kerla), Everson Thangkhiew (Meghalaya), Sharad Roshyam (Delhi); (In Master Men 100kg): Faisal N (Kerala), Muhmmed Hashim (Kerala); (In Master Men 100kg+): Naveen Paul (Kerala), Jude Dev KV (Tamil Nadu), S Satish (Karnataka); (In Master Women 80kg+) Yogesh Chaudhary, Shreelekha KA (Kerala), Tajinder Kaur (Gujarat).