Sudhir Saha (1918–1998) was a wrestler, coach and wrestling administrator in India. He introduced Greco-Roman wrestling in India.[1]
Sudhir Saha was the youngest son of Nandalal Saha and started wrestling at the age of six. Sudhir Saha was trained by his father Nandalal Saha, and subsequently by Ustad (meaning 'expert' in Hindi, a title commonly given to coaches) Majid Palwan from Lahore. Sudhir won the West Bengal State Wrestling Championship from the year 1935-1944 in the freestyle wrestling category. In the 1940 Senior National Wrestling Championship, Sudhir placed first in the middleweight category. After his wrestling career, Sudhir devoted his time to coaching and judge/refereeing.[1]
During his early coaching career, K.P. Rai and Nirmal Bose, from Panchanan Bayam Samity, one of India's oldest wrestling club, represented India in the 1948 London Olympics. Four years later, the 1952 Helsinki Olympic training camp was held at Panchanan Bayam Samity. Two of Sudhir's trainees, Nirmal Bose and Niranjan Das, from Panchanan Bayam Samity represented India in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics.[2] One of Sudhir's trainees, K.D. Jadhav, won the bronze medal in the Bantam weight Category in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics.[1] This was independent India's first individual Olympic medal.
In 1957, Sudhir Saha attended the first Fédération Internationale des Luttes Associées (FILA) Judge/Referee clinic for technical officials in Paris, with the aim of officials coming together to discuss theory and practicals on wrestling techniques and minute details of officiating. This is where he obtained his international judge/referee license.[1]
In 1961, Sudhir Saha completed his International Coaching degree from Japan. He was also the Joint Secretary and Vice President of Wrestling Federation of India; General Secretary, West Bengal Wrestling Federation; and he was responsible for technical positions such as Mat Chairman, Member of the Selection Committee, Chairman of the Greco-Roman Style in India,[3] and the Judge/Referee Association of India. He started his refereeing career in 1953, supervising more than 1500 wrestling bouts.[1] In the 1964 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo, Japan, Sudhir represented India as a wrestling judge/referee.[1]
Greco-Roman Style Wrestling in India
Under his supervision, the first Greco-Roman style wrestling competition was held in Calcutta at Panchanan Bayam Samity, one of India's oldest wrestling club. In 1965, at his initiative, Greco-Roman wrestling style was introduced in National Championship by the All India Wrestling Federation.[1]
Achievements
During Sudhir's coaching tenure, the following wrestlers received the following medals in International and World Championships, including 12 medals in the 1962 Asian Games (3 Gold, 6 Silver and 3 Bronze medals) and winning the team championship in the 1966 Commonwealth Games, with all seven Indian wrestlers winning medals (3 Gold, 2 Silver and 2 Bronze).[1][3]
Below is a list of wrestlers and their achievements during Sudhir's coaching career.[4]
More information Year, Place ...
Year
Place
Name
Competition
Style
Weight
Rank
1974
Christchurch
Sudesh Kumar
Commonwealth Games
Freestyle
52
1
1974
Christchurch
Premnath
Commonwealth Games
Freestyle
57
1
1974
Christchurch
Jagrup
Commonwealth Games
Freestyle
68
1
1974
Christchurch
Raghunath Pawar
Commonwealth Games
Freestyle
74
1
1970
Bangkok
Chandagi Ram
Asian Games
Freestyle
100
1
1970
Edinburgh
Ved Prakash
Commonwealth Games
Freestyle
48
1
1970
Edinburgh
Sudesh Kumar
Commonwealth Games
Freestyle
52
1
1970
Edinburgh
Udey Chand
Commonwealth Games
Freestyle
68
1
1970
Edinburgh
Mukhtiar Singh
Commonwealth Games
Freestyle
74
1
1970
Edinburgh
Harish Chandra
Commonwealth Games
Freestyle
82
1
1966
Kingston
Bishmbar Singh
Commonwealth Games
Freestyle
57
1
1966
Kingston
Mukhtiar Singh
Commonwealth Games
Freestyle
70
1
1966
Kingston
Bishmbar Singh
Commonwealth Games
Freestyle
+97
1
1962
Jakarta
Maruti Mane
Asian Games
Freestyle
97
1
1962
Jakarta
Malwa
Asian Games
Greco-Roman
52
1
1962
Jakarta
Ganpat Andalkar
Asian Games
Greco-Roman
+97
1
1974
Christchurch
Shivaji Chingle
Commonwealth Games
Freestyle
62
2
1974
Christchurch
Satpal Singh
Commonwealth Games
Freestyle
82
2
1974
Christchurch
Netar Pal
Commonwealth Games
Freestyle
90
2
1974
Christchurch
Dadu Chogule
Commonwealth Games
Freestyle
100
2
1974
Christchurch
Viswanath Singh
Commonwealth Games
Freestyle
+100
2
1970
Bangkok
Jit Singh
Asian Games
Freestyle
90
2
1970
Edinburgh
Sajjan singh
Commonwealth Games
Freestyle
90
2
1970
Edinburgh
Viswanath Singh
Commonwealth Games
Freestyle
100
2
1970
Edinburgh
Maruti Mane
Commonwealth Games
Freestyle
+100
2
1967
New Delhi
Bishwambar Singh
World Championship
Freestyle
57
2
1966
Bangkok
Biswanath Singh
Asian Games
Freestyle
97
2
1966
Kingston
Shyamrao Sable
Commonwealth Games
Freestyle
57
2
1966
Kingston
Randhawa Singh
Commonwealth Games
Freestyle
63
2
1962
Jakarta
Udey Chand
Asian Games
Freestyle
70
2
1962
Jakarta
Sajjan Singh
Asian Games
Freestyle
87
2
1962
Jakarta
Ganpat Andalkar
Asian Games
Freestyle
+97
2
1962
Jakarta
Udey Chand
Asian Games
Greco-Roman
70
2
1962
Jakarta
Sajjan Singh
Asian Games
Greco-Roman
87
2
1962
Jakarta
Maruti Mane
Asian Games
Greco-Roman
97
2
1974
Tehran
Satbir
Asian Games
Freestyle
57
3
1974
Tehran
Satpal Singh
Asian Games
Freestyle
82
3
1974
Tehran
Sukhchain
Asian Games
Freestyle
100
3
1974
Tehran
Sukhchain
Asian Games
Greco-Roman
100
3
1974
Christchurch
Radhey Shyam
Commonwealth Games
Freestyle
48
3
1970
Bangkok
Om Prakash
Asian Games
Freestyle
68
3
1970
Bangkok
Mukhtiar Singh
Asian Games
Freestyle
74
3
1970
Bangkok
Netar Pal
Asian Games
Freestyle
82
3
1970
Edinburgh
Randhawa Singh
Commonwealth Games
Freestyle
62
3
1966
Bangkok
Shamrao Sable
Asian Games
Freestyle
52
3
1966
Bangkok
Bishambar Singh
Asian Games
Freestyle
57
3
1966
Bangkok
V.Chad
Asian Games
Freestyle
70
3
1966
Bangkok
S.Singh
Asian Games
Freestyle
87
3
1966
Bangkok
Bhim Singh
Asian Games
Freestyle
+97
3
1966
Kingston
Hukum Singh
Commonwealth Games
Freestyle
78
3
1966
Kingston
Bishwanath Singh
Commonwealth Games
Freestyle
97
3
1962
Jakarta
Malwa
Asian Games
Freestyle
52
3
1962
Jakarta
Lakshmi Chand Gandey
Asian Games
Freestyle
78
3
1962
Jakarta
Narin Ghume
Asian Games
Greco-Roman
57
3
1961
Yokohama
Udey Chand
World Championship
Freestyle
67
3
1972
Munich
Sudesh Kumar
Olympic Games
Freestyle
52
4
1972
Munich
Premnath
Olympic Games
Freestyle
57
4
1965
Manchester
Bishamber Singh
World Championship
Freestyle
57
4
Close
During Sudhir's coaching career, wrestlers and officials from Panchanan Bayam Samity represented the State of West Bengal and India in International Championships.[2]
Some Wrestlers and Officials are listed below -
More information Name, Achievements ...
Name
Achievements
Nirmal Bose
1948 and 1952 Olympics
K.P. Rai
1948 Olympics
Niranjan Das
1952 Olympics
Shyam Sundar Chaterjee
1953 World Youth festival Games/ Gold- Indo/Japan Games 1953
Dutta, Swarup (20 March 2013). "Kushti teo Champion Gaurango (Bengali)". Duniar Khas Khabar (Bengali).
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