The Sangram Singh Foundation launched the first KD Jadhav Memorial International Kushti Championship here on Friday to pay tribute to India’s first individual Olympic medallist.
L-R – Col. Ravinder Singh (Executive director of Sangram Singh Foundation), Sangram Singh, Abhinav Bindra, Subhash Jewria (Sponsor and owner of Cryptoinbox), Akhil Kumar & Jitender Kumar unveiling the official poster of the 1st KD Jadhav Memorial Kushti Championship.
Sangram, a World Pro Wrestling and two-time Commonwealth Heavyweight Champion, will even return to the mat after a year-long gap in his ambitious plan to change the face of wrestling in the country.
“KD saheb is a true legend, my one and only idol. And this event provides me a good opportunity to pay a tribute to him,”Sangram said at the press conference “We will give opportunities to young, talented wrestlers in the country while at the same time keep our legend’s memory alive. We are aiming to not only improve the profile of the sport but also unearth more and more talents from Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities,” he added.
Flanked by India’s first Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra, Olympian boxers Akhil Kumar and Jitender Kumar, the 32-year-old outlined his plans to take the sport to the next level.
“This is a truly momentous day for Indian sport. There couldn’t have been a better way to pay our respects to our country’s first Olympic medallist,”Abhinav Bindra said. “I have always been an admirer of KD Jadhav”he added.
The first memorial championship will take place on September 15 at the Talkatora Stadium. Sangram Singh has lined up an exciting five-card, with he himself featuring in the day’s most exciting bout. He will take on America’s star wrestler Kevin Radford.
True to his word, he will offer the stage to upcoming wrestlers Yudhistir, Lubhanshu, Sherpal, Himanshu, Shravan and Pratik. Two female wrestlers will also be seen in action, Ekta vs Akansha, to make it an exciting day for the fans.
The championship sponsor, Subhash Jewria (owner of Crytoinbox), said that he was delighted to be part of the event. “I and my company believe that this could be a game-changer for wrestling in the country. We are really happy to play a part in it,” he said.
“We have many talented wrestlers and we will provide them the platform to help graduate to the next level,” Sangram added. “The championship will be a complete package… of action and entertainment and we are quite sure that the fans will love every bit of it,” he promised.
The championship will adhere to professional boxing norms, with six rounds of six minutes each. It will be broadcast Live on DD Sports in the prime time slot (6 PM to 9 PM). Apart from India, it will telecast Live in 25 other countries as well.