India's wrestling fraternity rues sport’s 2026 CWG axing
Wrestling, India's second most productive sport at the Commonwealth Games (CWG), has been excluded from the 2026 edition to be held Australia. This is the fourth time the sport has been dropped from the CWG programme since its introduction in 1930—Auckland 1990, Kuala Lumpur 1998, and Melbourne 2006 were the other instances.
India were disappointed when shooting, in which they return a rich haul every time, was dropped from the 2022 CWG. While the sport has been restored in the next Games to be staged in the Victoria state, it is the turn of the wrestlers to feel upset.
India have topped the wrestling medal tally four times at CWG, thrice in the last four editions. At Birmingham this year, they won 12 medals, six of them gold, to be the top contributors to India's tally of 61 medals.
The decision wasn’t entirely unexpected as the local organising committee had excluded shooting, wrestling and archery from their initial list in April. Shooting is India's most successful sport at CWG (135 medals). A total of 20 sports and 26 disciplines, including nine fully integrated para sports, will be part of the next CWG that will be held across multiple cities— Geelong, Gippsland, Ballarat and Bendigo—for the first time.
Vinesh Phogat, only the second Indian wrestler to complete a golden hat-trick at CWG—double Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar was the first—called it a “sad day for Indian wrestling”.
“It's not good news for Indian wrestling, but what can we do? If it needs an intervention from the government, so be it. There are only a handful of sports that we do well at the global level, and if you remove wrestling, what will we be left with?” the 28-year-old asked.
“How many major multi-discipline events are broadcast in India anyway? It's just CWG, Asian Games and Olympics. This is the only time our sport reaches households and people actually sit and take note of what we do. Now with wrestling out of CWG, imagine the hit wrestling may take in terms of popularity,” she said.
Recounting her days as a rookie in 2014 when she won her maiden international gold at 2014 Glasgow, the two-time Olympian said, "I have been to three CWGs, so I know the value of these Games. I know what it means to be a young and upcoming wrestler and go to your first CWG. The kind of exposure you get is tremendous. That's where people took note of me, and that confidence made me who I am,” said Phogat, a twice World Championships bronze medallist.
International success apart, CWG success also fetches financial rewards. This year, the central government awarded ₹20 lakh, ₹10 lakh and ₹7.5 lakh for the gold, silver and bronze medallist. Haryana, the hub of Indian wrestling, announced ₹1.5 crore for all gold medallists. For India's elite wrestlers, that revenue stream is now gone.
“A lot of us come from very humble backgrounds,” said Phogat. “In Haryana, people even sell their ancestral land to fuel their child’s wrestling dreams, so these financial gains allow us to take care of our families. Wrestling's exclusion from CWG will hurt us in a big way."
Former national coach Kuldeep Singh agreed. “CWG success brings with it financial gains, jobs, promotions and media attention. It has been one of the most productive sports for India and it did provide a good platform to youngsters," he said.
The level of competition though is not top-notch at CWG. With wrestling powerhouses such as Russia, USA, Japan and East European nations not part of the Commonwealth, the spoils are mainly shared by Canada, who lead with 147 wrestling medals, and India (114). Pakistan, the third-best wrestling nation in CWG, has less than half of India's medal tally.
“It's not our problem that the level of competition is not great,” Singh said. “In Birmingham, each weight category had 16-17 wrestlers. So, one can't say there's no competition. It's just that we happen to be the best.”
Phogat said: “Such things are said by those who don't get sports. We prepare the same way for each event. The training, focus, weight cut, everything remains the same. If the competition was really that easy, we would have come home with 12 gold medals from Birmingham."
London Olympics bronze medallist Yogeshwar Dutt called it an "unfortunate development that will affect Indian wrestling”. The two-time CWG gold medallist (2010, 2014) said, "CWG used to be an excellent platform for us. Despite what people may say about the level of competition, a medal is a medal, and each medal does wonders to a wrestler's confidence. Wrestling has been one of our most productive sports, so it being dropped will have a direct bearing on India's medals tally in 2026.”
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