New Delhi, Feb 14 (IANS): Star Sports has entered into an exclusive deal to broadcast the Asian Wrestling Championships that will be held at the KD Jadhav Indoor Hall at the Indira Gandhi Stadium in New Delhi from February 18 to 23. It will also be streamed live on the broadcaster's OTT platform Hotstar.
Star Sports has entered into exclusive media rights deal with India's leading sports rights management company Sporty Solutionz to broadcast the biggest continental event of wrestling. Sporty Solutionz is the sole and exclusive media rights partner of the United World Wrestling, the world governing body for the sport, for the territory of the Indian sub-continent.
The Asian Championships this time hold a special significance for the participants as the governing body of the sport United World Wrestling has announced that the event will be considered to determine rankings for the Tokyo Olympic Games.
"The Wrestling Federation of India is elated to get Star Sports First on board for this prestigious championship. The sport of wrestling will surely get elevated with this tie-up. The value-added, high-quality production is going to offer a new experience to the wrestling fans in the country," said Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, President, Wrestling Federation of India.
Bajrang Punia (65 kg) and Vinesh Phogat (53 kg) will spearhead the Indian challenge in the freestyle and women's competitions respectively. Bajrang will be out to defend his Asian Championships gold, which he won at Xi'an, China last year. Vinesh, who had to settle for a bronze in Xi'an in 2019, is a strong contender for the gold at home. Both Bajrang and Vinesh returned with bronze medals from the UWW World Wrestling Championships in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, last year.
The other Indian strong contenders include Deepak Punia, the reigning 86 kg World Junior Champion and a silver medallist from the 2019 World Championships, Nur-Sultan World Championships bronze medallist Ravi Dahiya (57 kg); Rio 2016 Olympics bronze medallist Sakshi Malik (65 kg) and Xi'an Asian Championships bronze medallist Divya Kakran.
The six-day competition, an important build-up platform in the run-up to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, will see the leading Asian wrestlers vying for top honours in the freestyle, Greco-Roman and women's wrestling disciplines.