Wrestler Sangram Singh introduces special awards to felicitate former India grapplers

New Delhi, Oct 16: In a bid to bring former India wrestlers under one roof and honour them for their contribution towards the nation in the field of sports, star India wrestler Sangram Singh has begun an award show.

The Rohtak-based grappler, who was awarded the title of World's Best Wrestler by the World Wrestling Professionals, in the first such event honoured several great wrestlers in New Delhi.

With these awards, Sangram also wants to ensure that the former wrestlers live a life of dignity in their old ages and the younger generation appreciates their contribution.

Union Minister Maneka Gandhi was present at the award show to felicitate the former champions who brought laurels to the nation.

Talking about the initiative, Sangram, who won Commonwealth Heavyweight Wrestling Championship held in South Africa in 2015, told MyKhel,"A rich legacy, a number of proud wrestlers and a handful of Olympic medals have made wrestling one of the more popular sports in India. It is also probably one of the oldest sports that India has indulged in, with reference to such competitions clearly seen even in our mythological stories.

"More recently, just a few years after the country attained Independence, the legendary KD Jadhav claimed the first individual medal at the Helsinki Olympics in 1952 to set the ball rolling. Since then, four others have won Olympic medals for us.

"When I look at their successes, my heart fills with pride. I owe everything in my life to wrestling and it feels good to see my fellowmen win medals for us at the international stage.

"In the beginning, I must confess I had looked at wrestling as my bread and butter. But over the years, it has given me a lot more than I ever expected: fame, money, and glory," said the wrestler, who was named brand ambassador of the Wrestling Federation of India for 2014.

After reaching the peak of his career, he now wants to give something back to his beloved sport. According to him when he looks around, he sees there are a number of legends whose achievements and contribution have been forgotten with time.

For the last two years, he's been working to find ways to create a platform for these heroes.

"I have been working very closely towards making the sport more fun and spectator-friendly for the audience. I introduced the KD Jadhav Memorial International Wrestling Championship, with the first round already held in New Delhi.

"I dedicated the championship to our first individual Olympic medalist from wrestling as I wanted the nation to know who had laid down the foundation for our future generations," said Sangram.

On this occasion, he started an initiative to bring all the greats of the games on a single platform, under one roof.

A thorough research was conducted and after talking to many players, administrators, coaches, and people who are in the know-how of wrestling zeroed down ten most deserving names for the first award night.

The list of luminary who were honored constituted of country's first individual Olympian Late K.D Jadhav, Udey Chand, India's first ever World Championship medal winner, Malwa Singh, former Olympian, Banda Patil Retharekar part of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics contingent, Bishamber Singh, Gold medalist at the1964 Common Wealth Games; Sajjan Singh, a 1962 Asian games Silver Medalists, Sajjan Singh, Arjuna Awardee and CWG Medalist; Mukhtiar Singh as well as Netra Pal, Charan Das and Ashok Garg. Malwa Singh was honoured for his contribution posthumously. Each of these legends were given awards and a token cash amount.

Talking further about the reason why he started this initiative Sangram told MyKhel, "We have seen several awards being given in the field of cricket, football. I thought why not bringing all legendary wrestlers under one roof and felicitate them for their services.

"My sole aim (behind this award show) is that there shouldn't be a family of these champions who should struggle to get two square meals a day or a shelter to leave. It will be Sangram Singh Foundation's mission to ensure these greats are supported and recognised in the best possible way. I will dedicate myself to give them a modicum of dignity. I do hope like-minded people will join me in my endeavors."

Sangram also expressed his happiness over the recommendation of KD Jadhav's name for the prestigious Padma Bhushan Award, country's third highest civil honour, by the Sports Ministry.

"I am delighted to see that KD saheb has finally been recommended for the prestigious Padma Bhushan Award by the Sports Ministry. This award is not only long due but will also be an impetus for all of us to work harder in promoting other legends like him," he signed off.

Sangram will also be essaying the character of KD Jadhav in the biopic on the legendary India wrestler.