India Professional Wrestling League holds draft, with no USA athletes selected

The draft has been held for the second year of the India Professional Wrestling League. There will be six franchises again this year, but none will have an athlete from the United States.


Each team will feature five athletes from India and four athletes from another country. Most of the international athletes selected are past Olympic or World medalists.


Last year, two U.S. athletes participated in the inaugural India Professional Wrestling League, three-time World champion and five-time World medalist Adeline Gray and two-time World bronze medalist Alyssa Lampe. Although a number of U.S. athletes notified the India league that they would be available for the draft, none were reportedly selected this year.


Although the India Professional Wrestling League has not yet posted any complete roster information from the draft on its website, there were numerous stories about the draft in the media in India, as well as many tweets about the draft selections from the league.


The final rosters for the six teams were posted by Indian wrestling journalist Vinay Sawatch and which we will use for this story.


Based upon the rosters posted by Sawatch, the league will feature 30 wrestlers from India and 24 wrestlers from other nations. There are 15 different nations represented by the foreign athletes.


Olympic champions in the league include 2016 Olympic champion Vladimer Khinchegashvili of Georgia (57 kg, Team Punjab), 2016 Olympic champion Erica Wiebe of Canada (75 kg, Team Mumbai) and 2012 Olympic champion Toghrul Asgarov of Azerbaijan (65 kg, Team Punjab). Khinchegashvili was also a 2015 World champion, while Asgarov won a silver medal at the 2016 Olympics.


World champions in the league along with Khinchegashvili include Magomed Kurbanaliev of Russia (70 kg, Team Haryana), Abdusalam Gadisov of Russia (97 kg, Team Haryana), Sofia Mattsson of Sweden (53 kg, Team Haryana), Mariya Stadnik of Azerbaijan (48 kg, Team Delhi), Alina Makhinya of Ukraine (75 kg, Team Delhi), Jenny Fransson of Sweden (75 kg, Team Jaipur).


Past Olympic medalists on the rosters include include Fransson, Mattsson, Stadnik, Marwa Amri of Tunisia (58 kg, Team Haryana), Jabrail Hasanov of Azerbaijan (74 kg, Team Mumbai), Reineris Salas of Cuba (97 kg, Team Mumbai), Livan Lopez of Cuba (74 kg, Team Uttar Pradesh), Elitsa Yankova of Bulgaria (48 kg, Team Uttar Pradesh) and Maria Mamashuk of Belarus (75 kg, Team Uttar Pradesh).


Other past World medalists on the rosters are Odunayo Adekuoroye of Nigeria (53 kg, Team Punjab), Vasilisa Marzaliuk of Belarus (75 kg, Team Punjab), Erdenbat Bakhbayar of Mongolia (57 kg, Team Delhi) and Bekzod Abdurakhmanov of Uzbekistan (70 kg, Team Delhi).


The top Indian athlete in the league is 2016 Olympic bronze medalist Sakshi Malik, who will compete at 58 kg for Team Delhi.


According to media reports on India.com, the highest salary went to Olympic and World Champion Vladimer Khinchegashvili of Georgia with Team Punjab, for close to $71,000 U.S. The story reported the top salary for an athlete from India went to Bajrang Punia, who will compete at 65 kg for Team Delhi, for just over $56,000 U.S.


In the inaugural season, Team Punjab, which featured USA star Adeline Gray, won the title, with Team Haryana placing second. There were also six teams in the first year of the league.


The league scheduled to be held Jan. 2-19, and will be nationally televised in India.


We will monitor the news from India and report any changes or updates from this information.

SEASON 2, INDIA PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING LEAGUE DRAFT

(as reported by Indian wrestling journalist Vinay Sawatch)

TEAM PUNJAB

57 kg men - Vladimer Khinchegashvili (Georgia)

65 kg men –Togrul Asgarov (Azerbaijan)

70 kg men – Pankaj Rana (India)

74 kg men – Jitendra (India)

97 kg men – Krishan Kumar (India)

48 kg women – Nimala Devi (India)

53 kg women – Odunayo Adekuoroye (Nigeria)

58 kg women – Manju Kumari (India)

75 kg women – Vasilisa Marzaliuk (Belarus)

TEAM HARYANA

57 kg men – Sandeep Tomar (India)

65 kg men – Rajneesh (India)

70 kg men – Magomed Kurbanaliev (Russia)

74 kg men – Sumit Sehrawat (India)

97 kg men – Abdusalam Gadisov (Russia)

48 kg women – Indu Chaudhary (India)

53 kg women – Sofia Mattsson (Sweden)

58 kg women – Marwa Amri (Tunisia)

75 kg women – Kiran (India)

TEAM MUMBAI

57 kg men – Rahul Aware (India)

65 kg men – Vikas (India)

79 kg men – Pritam (India)

74 kg men – Jabrail Hasanov (Azerbaijan)

97 kg men – Reneiris Salas (Cuba)

48 kg women – Carolina Castillo Hidalgo (Colombia)

53 kg women – Lalita Sherawat (India)

58 kg women – Sarita (India)

75 kg women – Erica Wiebe (Canada)

TEAM DELHI

57 kg men - Erdenebat Bekhbayar (Mongolia)

65 kg men – Bajrang Punia (India)

70 kg men – Bekzod Abdurakhmanov (Uzbekistan)

74 kg men – Parveen Rana (India)

97 kg men – Satawart Kadian (India)

48 kg women – Mariya Stadnik (Azerbaijan)

53 kg women – Sangeeta Phogat (India)

58 kg women – Sakshi Malik (India)

75 kg women – Alina Makhynia (Ukraine)

TEAM JAIPUR

57 kg men - Utkarsh Kale (India)

65 kg men – Rahul Mann (India)

70 kg men – Vinod Kumar (India)

74 kg men – Jakob Makarashvili (Georgia)

97 kg men – Elizbar Odikadze (Georgia)

48 kg women – Ritu Phogat (India)

53 kg women – Betzabeth Arguello Villegas (Venezuela)

58 kg women – Pooja Dhanda (India)

75 kg women – Jenny Fransson (Sweden)


TEAM UTTAR PRADESH

57 kg men – Amit Dahiya (India)

65 kg men – Andrey Kviatkovski (Ukraine)

70 kg men – Amitk Dhankar (India)

74 kg men – Livan Lopez (Cuba)

97 kg men – Mausam Khatri (India)

48 kg women – Elitsa Yankova (Bulgaria)

53 kg women – Babita Phogat (India)

58 kg women – Geeta Phogat (India)

75 kg women – Maria Mamashuk (Belarus)