Arm Wrestling in Rajasthan

Reviewed profileAchievements, tournaments, coaches and FAQs on this page are compiled by hand from federation, government and press reporting, drawing on Wikipedia — Indian Arm Wrestling Federation, Pro Panja League, 2023 Pro Panja League, AFP (via Malay Mail / Taipei Times) — 'Arm wrestling grips India with glitzy dreams', Telangana Today — India bids for World Arm Wrestling Championship, The Bridge, YourStory — Chetna Sharma profiles, The Statesman, Kerala Kaumudi — Rahul Panicker profiles, The Better India — Pro Panja League inclusive format, TheSportsTribune — 2024 Asian Championship Indian medallists. These are not cited to individual documents: we hold no per-claim source for them, so treat dates, counts and career records here as a summary rather than a reference. Sections we hold nothing for are left empty. Sport pages last reviewed as a set: September 2026.

Overview

Origin: Traditional
Category: Strength
Olympic discipline: No
Paralympic discipline: No
Central pathway: Federation and state pathway
Athlete profiles on SportSupport: 0

Governance and status

Each field below is shown only where we hold a source for it; anything else reads “Not currently verified” rather than a guess. Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports recognition is granted year by year, so it is only ever shown with the year it applies to. Last reviewed: September 2026.

Indian governing/organising body: Indian Arm Wrestling Federation
Ministry recognition: Not currently verified
International federation: Not currently verified
Khelo India inclusion: Not currently verified
TOPS eligibility: Not currently verified
Olympic status: Not on the Olympic programme
Paralympic status: Not a Paralympic discipline

Arm Wrestling is listed on SportSupport in the strength category. Its recorded origin is Traditional. It is not on the Olympic programme. We list Indian Arm Wrestling Federation as the Indian governing/organising body for the sport.

Arm Wrestling has a federation and state-level pathway in India, and athletes selected through Indian Arm Wrestling Federation may be eligible for state sports-quota employment and state cash awards where their state notifies the discipline. TOPS does not apply, as the discipline is outside the Olympic programme.

Scholarships & Funding

Central, state and private scholarships available for arm wrestling athletes in India.

Khelo India Talent Identification & Development (KITID)
Stipend, boarding, coaching and kit at accredited centres for talent identified through the Khelo India selection process (Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports). Applies only to disciplines on the official Khelo India Games list, and only to athletes it selects.
National Sports Development Fund (NSDF)
Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports fund used to sponsor elite athletes' training, foreign coaches and equipment. Allocations are made case by case; we hold no record of NSDF support specific to arm wrestling.
Pension for Meritorious Sportspersons
Lifetime monthly pension for retired internationals who meet the scheme's medal criteria at Asian, Commonwealth or World Championship level — Government of India. Whether a given arm wrestling event counts depends on the scheme's notified list.
State sports quota and government employment
Many states reserve government and public-sector posts for national-level medallists. Which arm wrestling events and which certifying bodies a state accepts varies by state, so check your state's current notification.

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Indian Players

No profiles yet

No athlete profiles are recorded for arm wrestling yet. We only list athletes we can source, so this section stays empty until verifiable profiles exist.

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Rules

Two competitors face each other across a regulation table, grip hands, and place their free hand on the peg. On "ready, go" each tries to pin the opponent's arm so that any part of the wrist or hand touches the pad. Elbows must stay on the elbow pad throughout; lifting the elbow, breaking the grip deliberately, false-starting or slipping out of the grip draws a foul, and two fouls concede the match. Bouts are contested separately with the right and left hand, in weight divisions and age classes, with para categories including wheelchair athletes competing under the same pinning rules.

Authoritative rulebook: Indian Arm Wrestling Federation. Age-group and school-level variations are published by SGFI and the state associations each season.

Positions

Typical roles across strength sports. These are category-level descriptions, not a sourced arm wrestling squad list.

Snatch
Single-movement lift from floor to overhead — Olympic weightlifting event.
Clean & jerk
Two-stage lift to the shoulders then overhead — Olympic weightlifting event.
Squat / bench / deadlift
The three powerlifting disciplines contested by weight class.

Equipment

Standard kit and infrastructure required to train and compete in arm wrestling at a federation-recognised event.

Regulation arm wrestling table with elbow pads, touch pads and hand pegs
Chalk or grip powder (as permitted by competition rules)
Strap for re-grips ordered by the referee
Wrist and forearm training tools (handles, cables, pulley setups)
No gloves, tape or supports on the wrestling arm unless medically approved

Governing/organising body

Body listed on SportSupport

Indian Arm Wrestling Federation

Indian Arm Wrestling Federation is the body we list as the Indian governing/organising body for Arm Wrestling. We hold no confirmed Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports recognition record for it, so nothing here states that it is currently recognised.

Origin: Traditional
Olympic: No
Paralympic: No
Category: Strength

IAWF profile →All federations →

Major Indian Events

Domestic competitions we hold a source for in arm wrestling.

National Arm Wrestling Championship
Organized by the Indian Arm Wrestling Federation (IAF, founded 1977, headquartered in Bhilai Nagar, Chhattisgarh) — the 45th edition was held in Srinagar with support from the J&K Arm Wrestling Association. Contested in right-hand and left-hand categories across weight divisions, with separate para categories.
Pro Panja League (PPL)
A professional franchise league founded in 2020 by Bollywood couple Parvin Dabas and Preeti Jhangiani, with its first full season in July 2023 at Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium, New Delhi. Kochi KDs beat Kiraak Hyderabad 30-28 in the inaugural final, watched by 32 million TV viewers. Broadcast on Sony Sports Network in India and Willow TV in the US. Every team must field men, women and athletes with disabilities, including wheelchair users.
Sheru Classic Arm Wrestling Championship
A long-running national-level event, held alongside the IHFF fitness expo, that has served as a major platform for Indian arm wrestlers.

International Events

Continental and world-level competitions we hold a source for in arm wrestling.

World Armwrestling Championship
IAF has sent large squads including a 43-member team to Almaty, Kazakhstan, and a 45-member squad to Bulgaria. Rahul Panicker finished 9th at the 2019 edition; Manish Kumar has won six world championship golds in the specially-abled category.
Asian Armwrestling Championship
India finished second overall at a recent edition. At the 2024 championship in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Shrimant Jha (Chhattisgarh) won left-hand para gold and right-hand para bronze, Sachin Goyal took right-hand senior bronze, Laxman Singh Bhandari won two masters bronzes, and Ibi Lollen (Arunachal Pradesh) won two women's bronzes.

Leagues

Franchise and professional leagues catalogued for arm wrestling. Full season data, champions and schedule filters are available in the sidebar.

Domestic · Since 2023
Pro Panja League
India's first franchise league dedicated to professional arm-wrestling (panja).

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International Players

Globally recognised arm wrestling athletes to know outside India.

The international federation for arm wrestling maintains the current world ranking — check the federation site for the up-to-date top names.

Career Options

Ways to build a career in arm wrestling — on the field, on the sidelines and behind the scenes.

PPL pays men and women the same fees based on national ranking — the highest-ranked player earns around ₹1 lakh for the 17-day league plus separate tournament fees, with the winning team taking roughly ₹20 lakh
League co-founder Parvin Dabas has described competitors as government servants, gym trainers and mechanics from small-town India
Farheen Dehalvi went from local competitions to national television, and has said gyms opened locally after she joined the league and girls began training
Chetna Sharma, a six-time national champion, lost consistently from 2011 to 2013 before her first state title and has continued as an amateur — she has received international invitations since 2017 but cited lack of sponsorship and financial aid as the barrier
Rahul Panicker balances the sport with a full-time IT job (team leader at NeST Digital, Kochi), has won nine-plus national titles and an Asian Championship silver, and self-funded his 2019 World Championship trip through his own company in the absence of sponsors
PPL co-founder Parvinn Dabass has stated an ambition of Olympic inclusion by 2036, and India has bid to host a future World Arm Wrestling Championship

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Related academies

0 listed

No arm wrestling academies are catalogued in the directory yet. Browse the full academy list or list your academy to appear here.

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FAQs

Common questions about arm wrestling in India.

Who governs Arm Wrestling in India?▾

We list Indian Arm Wrestling Federation as the Indian governing/organising body for Arm Wrestling, and state associations affiliated to it run age-group and state-level competition. We hold no current-year Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports recognition record for it, so this is not a statement that it is currently a recognised national sports federation — recognition is granted year by year.

Is Arm Wrestling an Olympic sport?▾

No, Arm Wrestling is not on the Olympic programme.

How do I start playing Arm Wrestling in India?▾

The usual routes are a school team under the School Games Federation of India (SGFI), a college team under the Association of Indian Universities (AIU), or a private academy affiliated to your state association under Indian Arm Wrestling Federation. Age-group state championships follow from there.

What government schemes support Arm Wrestling athletes?▾

TOPS does not apply, as Arm Wrestling is outside the Olympic programme. State-government cash awards or sports-quota employment can apply where a state notifies the discipline, which varies by state. Arm Wrestling does not appear on the official Khelo India Games discipline list, so we make no Khelo India claim for it.

Arm Wrestling in every state & UT

Dedicated pages for Arm Wrestling in each Indian state and Union Territory — academies, schemes, athletes and how to start.