Armwrestling: India ends first-ever home World Championship with 59 medals
New Delhi, Nov 7 (IANS/WISHAVWARTA) India ended the first-ever home Armwrestling World Championship in style, finishing with 59 medals at the 47th World Armwrestling & 28th World Para Armwrestling Championship 2026 in New Delhi on Friday.
Hosted in India for the first time, the Championship brought more than 1,700 athletes, officials and supporters from over 60 countries to New Delhi.
Russia finished as overall champions, with Kazakhstan second and Turkey third. Six athletes won senior gold on both arms: Melek Celik and Esra Kiraz (Turkiye), Ulbossyn Elmurat and Yerdualet Nurmakhan (Kazakhstan), and Irina Driaeva and Tengizi Natsvlishvili (Georgia).
India finished with 59 medals (9 gold, 19 silver, 31 bronze), with the Para athletes contributing 26 medals (2 gold, 10 silver, 14 bronze) to the tally, which placed the country at fifth on the para medal table. Sub-junior, junior and youth athletes added 20 medals (3 gold, 8 silver, 9 bronze), and masters and grand masters won 12 (4 gold, 1 silver, 7 bronze). India won one bronze in the senior category.
Jincymol Sebastian won Grand Master Women 80 kg on both arms. Yogesh Choudhary and Shoukath VT each took Right-arm gold and Left-arm bronze. In the senior finals, Madhura K N won bronze in Women 70 kg Right.
The closing ceremony on Friday was held at The Leela Ambience Convention Hotel in East Delhi and was attended by H.E. Néstor Gabriel Baltodano Vargas, Ambassador of the Republic of Costa Rica; H.E. Sena Latif, Ambassador of Romania to India; and H.E. Vakhtang Jaoshvili, Ambassador of Georgia to India.
The Championship, which ran from October 29 to November 6, 2026, was hosted by the People’s Armwrestling Federation of India (PAFI) under the World Armwrestling Federation (WAF).
Charles Osei Asibey, President, Armwrestling Federation of Africa (AFA) and Vice President, World Armwrestling Federation (WAF), said, “India has set a new standard as a host. The organisation, the hospitality and the passion of the crowd made this a Championship every continent will remember.”
Preeti Jhangiani, President, PAFI, Vice President, AAF and Co-founder, Pro Panja League, said, “We welcomed the world’s strongest arms to India, and tonight we say goodbye as one armwrestling family. Our athletes made the country proud on home soil. This World Championship belongs to every Indian athlete, coach and official who believed in this sport.”
Parvinn Dabass, Co-founder, Pro Panja League, said, “Our athletes have shown the world what Indian armwrestling can do on the biggest stage, in front of a home crowd. Hosting a World Championship was a dream for Panja in India; now it is a benchmark we will keep building on.”
The World Armwrestling Championship moves to Canada next year. In India, the Pro Panja League Poonawalla Gold Edition II follows in Pune on November 28, 2026, featuring World Championship medallists Yogesh Choudhary, Harkomal Singh Gill and Aabhas Rana.
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