World Wrestling Championships 2022, live streaming: Bajrang Punia, Ravi Kumar Dahiya to lead Indian challenge - full schedule

Olympians Vinesh Phogat and Sonam Malik will lead the women’s contingent at the Belgrade world meet. Watch live!

5 minBy Ali Asgar Nalwala
Bajrang Punia is the men's 65kg second seed at Tokyo 2020.
(Getty Images)

Tokyo Olympic medallists Bajrang Punia and Ravi Kumar Dahiya will spearhead a strong 30-member Indian wrestling contingent at the World Wrestling Championships 2022, to be held in Belgrade, Serbia from Saturday.

The Belgrade meet, which concludes on September 18, involves competitions for men’s and women’s freestyle along with Greco-Roman wrestling. India have sent 10 wrestlers for each of the three categories.

Watch the World Wrestling Championships 2022 on live streaming in India.

Both Bajrang Punia and Ravi Kumar Dahiya, along with Olympian Deepak Punia will enter the worlds on a high after winning gold medals at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham last month. The trio was exempted from national selection trials and made the cut directly.

Ravi Kumar Dahiya, the silver-medallist at Tokyo 2020, had won a bronze at the 2019 worlds. He is seeded second in the men’s 57kg weight division and will face stiff competition from reigning world champion Thomas Gilman of the USA.

Bajrang Punia is also seeded second in 65kg. With silver in 2018 and bronze medals in 2013 and 2019, Bajrang Punia is the most successful Indian wrestler at the world championships with three medals to his name.

Seeking his maiden gold at the 2022 edition, Bajrang Punia will have to overcome Azerbaijan’s Tokyo 2020 silver medallist Haji Aliyev, who is the top seed at Belgrade. Deepak Punia, silver medallist in 2019, will fight in 86kg.

In women’s wrestling, the onus will be on 2019 world championships bronze medallist Vinesh Phogat and two-time cadet world champion Sonam Malik to deliver the medals for India.

Sakshi Malik, the Rio 2016 bronze medallist, and Anshu Malik, who was the first Indian women’s wrestler to make the world championships final last year, are out with injuries.

Sarita Mor, bronze medallist from the last edition and world No.1 in the 59kg, will compete in the 57kg at Belgrade. The under-23 Asian champion Mansi Ahlawat will take Sarita Mor’s slot in 59kg.

Under-20 world championships silver medallist Priyanka (76kg) and bronze winner Reetika (72kg) will also be among the medal hopefuls at the upcoming world championships.

Former Asian champion Sunil Kumar and Asian Championships bronze medallist Arjun Halakuri headline the Indian Greco-Roman contingent.

At the last edition of the world championships, which were held after the Tokyo Olympics, India returned with just two medals. Anshu Malik won silver in women’s 57kg while Sarita Mor won bronze in 59kg.

Indian team for World Wrestling Championships 2022

Men’s freestyle

Ravi Dahiya (57kg), Pankaj Malik (61kg), Bajrang Punia (65kg), Naveen Malik (70kg), Sagar Jaglan (74kg), Deepak Mirka (79kg), Sanjeet (86kg), Vicky Hooda (92kg), Vicky Chahar (97kg), Dinesh Dhankar (125kg)

Women’s freestyle

Ankush (50kg), Vinesh Phogat (53kg), Sushma Shokeen (55kg), Sarita Mor (57kg), Mansi Ahlawat (59kg), Sonam Malik (62kg), Shefali (65kg), Nisha Dahiya (68kg), Reetika (72kg) and Priyanka (76kg).

Greco-Roman

Arjun Halakurki (55kg), Gyanender (60kg), Neeraj (63kg), Ashu (67kg), Vikas (72kg), Sachin (77kg), Harpreet Singh (82kg), Sunil Kumar (87kg), Deepanshu (97kg), Satish (130kg)

Where to watch the World Wrestling Championships 2022 live in India

Watch the World Wrestling Championships 2022 live streaming on the United World Wrestling’s (UWW) official website and olympics.com. There will be no telecast on any TV channel in India.

World Wrestling Championships 2022 schedule and live start times for India

All times are India Standard Times (IST)

September 10, Saturday

Men’s Greco-Roman qualification rounds 55kg, 72kg, 77kg, 87kg - 2:00 PM IST onwards

Men’s Greco-Roman semi-finals 55kg, 72kg, 77kg, 87kg - 9.30 PM IST onwards

September 11, Sunday

Men’s Greco-Roman qualification rounds 63kg, 67kg, 82kg, 97kg - 2:00 PM IST onwards

Men’s Greco-Roman repechage 55kg, 72kg, 77kg, 87kg - 2:00 PM IST onwards

Men’s Greco-Roman qualification rounds 63kg, 67kg, 82kg, 97kg - 8:15 PM IST onwards

Men’s Greco-Roman medal round 55kg, 72kg, 77kg, 87kg - 9.30 PM IST onwards

September 12, Monday

Men’s Greco-Roman qualification rounds 60kg, 130kg - 2:00 PM IST onwards

Men’s Greco-Roman repechage 63kg, 67kg, 82kg, 97kg - 2:00 PM IST onwards

Women’s qualification rounds 55kg, 62kg - 2:00 PM IST onwards

Men’s Greco-Roman repechage 63kg, 67kg, 82kg, 97kg - 2:00 PM IST onwards

Men’s Greco-Roman semi-finals 60kg, 130kg - 8:15 PM IST onwards

Women’s semi-finals 55kg, 62kg - 8:15 PM IST onwards

Men’s Greco-Roman medal round 63kg, 67kg, 82kg, 97kg - 9:30 PM IST onwards

September 13, Tuesday

Women’s qualification rounds 50kg, 53kg, 65kg, 76kg - 2:00 PM IST onwards

Women’s repechage 55kg, 62kg - 2:00 PM IST onwards

Men’s Greco-Roman repechage 60kg, 130kg - 2:00 PM IST onwards

Women’s semi-finals 50kg, 53kg, 65kg, 76kg - 8:15 PM IST onwards

Women’s medal round 55kg, 62kg - 9:30 PM IST onwards

Men’s Greco-Roman medal round 60kg, 130kg - 9:30 PM IST onwards

September 14, Wednesday

Women’s qualification rounds 57kg, 59kg, 68kg, 72kg - 2:00 PM IST onwards

Women’s repechage 50kg, 53kg, 65kg, 76kg - 2:00 PM IST onwards

Women’s semi-finals – 57kg, 59kg, 68kg, 72kg - 8:15 PM IST onwards

Women’s medal rounds – 50kg, 53kg, 65kg, 76kg - 9:30 PM IST onwards

September 15, Thursday

Men’s qualification rounds 70kg, 79kg, 86kg, 125kg - 2:00 PM IST onwards

Women’s repechage 57kg, 59kg, 68kg, 72kg - 2:00 PM IST onwards

Men’s semi-finals 70kg, 79kg, 86kg,125kg - 8:15 PM IST onwards

Women’s medal rounds 57kg, 59kg, 68kg, 72kg - 9:30 PM IST onwards

September 16, Friday

Men’s qualification rounds 57kg, 74kg, 92kg - 2:00 PM IST onwards

Men’s repechage 70kg, 79kg, 86kg,125kg - 2:00 PM IST onwards

Men’s semi-finals 57kg, 74kg, 92kg - 8:15 PM IST onwards

Men’s medal rounds 70kg, 79kg, 86kg,125kg - 9:30 PM IST onwards

September 17, Saturday

Men’s qualification rounds 61kg, 65kg, 97kg - 2:00 PM IST onwards

Men’s repechage 57kg, 74kg, 92kg - 2:00 PM IST onwards

Men’s semi-finals 61kg, 65kg, 97kg - 8:30 PM IST onwards

Men’s medal rounds 57kg, 74kg, 92kg - 9:30 PM IST onwards

September 18, Sunday

Men’s repechage 61kg, 65kg, 97kg - 8:00 PM IST onwards

Men’s medal rounds 61kg, 65kg, 97kg - 9:30 PM IST onwards