Top 20 Best Arm Wrestlers in India

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In recent times, Arm wrestling has spurned up to be an immensely competitive sport, with the growth and the efforts behind its buzzing popularity. The thrill and the unpredictability the sport brings to the table makes it hard to miss. Known as ‘Panja’ in the subcontinent, India has seen the rise of many adroit arm wrestlers over the years, who have shined at the national championships, and also went on to win medals at the international levels.

While the sport of Arm Wrestling has existed in the country for a long time, the professional Arm Wrestling scene started taking shape when Pro Panja League introduced its first ranking tournament in Delhi at the Thayagraj Sports Complex. Since then, Pro Panja has scheduled numerous fight nights and has produced a lot of star Arm Wrestlers.

Let’s have a look at the top 20 best Arm Wrestlers in India

Siddharth Malakar

Siddharth Malakar was the inaugural 90 kg champion in the PPL’s first ranking tournament which took place at the Thyagaraj Stadium in New Delhi in 2020.

He then took part in Pro Panja League Mega Matches-2 which took place onboard the Majestic Pride Casino Ship in Goa where he defeated Sunil Kumar to become the ‘Super Champ’. He also won a gold medal in the 44th Nationals which took place in Hyderabad.

Sachin Goyal

Sachin Goyal won the silver medal in the inaugural 80 kg weight class in the PPL’s first ranking tournament which took place in Delhi in 2020. He then fought at the Pro Panja Mega Matches-1. He then became the 80 kg champion at the Sheru Classic Arm Wrestling Championship in 2021.

In the same event, he was also crowned the ‘Champion of Champions’. He also won the gold medal in the Sheru Classic Arm Wrestling Championship in June of 2022 in the 90 kg category.

Karaj Virk

Karaj Virk won the gold medal in the 80 kg weight category in the inaugural PPL’s event which took place in Delhi in 2020. He then fought Sachin Goyal in the 80 kg category at the PPL Mega Matches-1 where he defeated him in a hard-fought five-round bout.

He most recently fought at the 2022 Sheru Classic Arm Wrestling championship where he won a Bronze medal in the 100 kg category.

Denic Lalruattluanga

Hailing from Mizoram, Denic is a multiple-time state champion and he most recently won the Gold medal in the 80 kg (right hand) category. He was also crowned as the ‘Champion of Champions’.

Rahul Panicker

Rahul Panicker is one of the most dominating 70 KG Arm Wrestlers in India and he is a 10-time Kerala State Champion, 8-time National Champion, and also a champion in the UAE.

He is known for his aggressive top roll and he became a worldwide sensation last year when he defeated Larry Wheels in an Arm Wrestling match. He recently won the gold medal in the 44th National in the 70 kg category which took place in Hyderabad.

Aakash Kumar

Aakash Kumar is one of the most well-known names in the Indian Arm Wrestling circuit. He recently won the gold medal in the 70 kg category at the 2022 Sheru Classic Arm Wrestling Championship which took place in New Delhi.

He also won the ‘Champion of Champions’ in the same tournament.

Sanjay Deswal

Hailing from Delhi, Sanjay Deswal is a national gold medalist and 10 times Delhi ‘Champion of Champions’. He also won a Gold medal at the 2021 Sheru Classic Arm Wrestling Championship which took place in Mumbai. He also defeated Syed Mahaboob Ali of Hyderabad at the Pro Panja Mega Matches-1. He was the silver medalist in the inaugural Pro Panja League ranking tournament which took place in Delhi.

Sameer VT

Sameer VT started arm-wrestling nearly 23 years ago and he is currently the 13-time Indian ArmWrestling Federation National champion. He is also an Asian Silver Medalist and he was also the 2019 captain of the Indian team.

He has also won three national championships in Qatar. In 2021, he defeated Harman Mann in the Pro Panja Mega Matches-1 event which took place in Mumbai.

Harman Mann

Arm Wrestler Harman Mann has been one of the top Arm Wrestlers in the country. He has taken part in numerous Pro Panja League events.

He was the Silver medalist in the first ever Pro Panja ranking tournament which took place in Delhi in 2020 at the Thyagaraj Stadium in New Delhi. He also took part in the Pro Panja Mega Matches-1.

Ravinder Singh

Ravinder Singh is one of the top Arm Wrestlers in the country. Hailing from Delhi, he has won numerous state championships before. He most recently participated in the Sheru Classic Arm Wrestling tournament where he won a Gold medal in the 100kg+ category. He was also the runner up in the ‘Champion of Champions in the same tournament.

MD Hashim

MD Hashim is one of the top Arm Wrestlers in the upper weight categories in India. He won his first medal under the Pro Panja League banner back in 2020 at the ranking tournament in the 100 kg category.

He was also a part of the Pro Panja League Mega Matches-1, where he took on Attar Singh and defeated him. He most recently took part in the 44th National, where he won the gold medal in the 100 kg category.

Dilshad MA

Dilshad MA is one of the rising superstars of Indian Arm Wrestling. He won the gold medal in the 100 kg+ category of the inaugural ranking tournament. He also took part in the Pro Panja Mega Matches-1 event which took place in Mumbai. Most recently, he took part in the 44th National where he won the gold medal in the 100kg+ category.

Tawheed Shaikh

Tawheed Shaikh is one of the most recognized Arm Wrestlers from the Indian state of Maharashtra. He took part in the 2021 Sheru Classic Arm Wrestling championship, where he won the Gold medal in the 90 kg category.

He was also the runner-up in the ‘Champion of Champions’ event in the same category. Last month, he took part in the 44th Nationals, where he won a gold medal in the 90kg category. Most recently he took part in the Arm Wrestling National Open Championship in Surat where he won the Gold medal in his weight category and Champion of Champions in the same event.

Tridip Medhi

Tridip Medhi is one of the finest Arm Wrestlers to come out of Assam. He won the gold medal in the inaugural Pro Panja League ranking tournament which took place in Delhi in 2020 in the 70 kg category.

He took part in the 2021 Sheru Classic Arm Wrestling Championship where he won the Silver Medal. He also won the gold medal in the 44th All Assam State Arm Wrestling Championship.

Attar Singh

Attar Singh is a multiple-time State Champion from Haryana. He took part in the first-ever Pro Panja League ranking tournament which took place in Delhi. He took part in the 100kg+ category where he won the Bronze Medal. He was also a part of the Pro Panja Mega Matches-1 which took place in Mumbai. He also won a Gold medal in the Haryana State Arm Wrestling Championship which took place earlier this year. He most recently participated in the 2022 Sheru Classic Arm Wrestling Championship where he won a Silver medal in the 100kg+ category.

Shivam Rajput

Shivam Rajput is the Punjab State Champion. Most recently, he participated in the Sheru Classic Arm Wrestling Championship where he won the Gold medal.

He also won a Silver medal at the 2018 IAF Nationals.

Mohsin Sheikh 

Mohsin Sheikh is one of the most popular Arm Wrestlers in India. He won the Gold medal at the 44th Indian Arm Wrestling Nationals.

He is also a multiple-time Maharashtra state Arm Wrestling Champion. Most recently, he participated in the Arm Wrestling National Open Championship in Surat where he won the Gold Medal in the 60 kg category.

Siddhant Kathuria

Siddhanth Kathuria is one of the biggest rising stars of Indian Arm Wrestling. He recently won two Gold medals in the youth matches at the 44th Nationals and also a Silver medal in the seniors’ category.

He was also the Champion of Champions in the Delhi State Arm Wrestling Championship. He won a Bronze medal in the 2022 Sheru Classic Arm Wrestling Championship in the 90 kg category.

Ashish Mehta

Ashish Mehta won the Bronze medal in the inaugural Pro Panja Ranking tournament in 2020. He won the Bronze in the men’s 60 kg category.

He most recently competed at the 2022 Sheru Classic Arm Wrestling Championship in Delhi where he won the Gold medal in the 60 kg category.

Manish Kumar

Competing in the specially Abled category, Manish Kumar won the Gold medal at the inaugural Pro Panja League ranking tournament. He then competed at the Pro Panja Mega Matches-1 where he won against Buta Singh.

He also won the gold medal at the 2022 Sheru Classic Arm Wrestling Championship. He is also a world champion in the specially Abled category. Kumar has won 19 gold medals in arm wrestling. Kumar also won the Madhya Pradesh government’s Vikram Award for sportspersons in the year 2007.

who do you think will stay and who do you think will fall out of the Top 20 after the PPL ranking tournament?