PESHAWAR - The 59th edition of the National Wrestling Championship got under way here at Lala Rafique Sports Arena, Qayyum Sports Complex on Wednesday with more than 100 wrestlers vying for the top honours.

Provincial Minister for Sports Syed Aqil Shah formally inaugurated the championship in which teams from Wapda, Army, Pakistan Railways, HEC, Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan, Islamabad, FATA and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are taking part. Secretary Pakistan Wrestling Federation Ch. Asghar, Secretary Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ustad Qayyum, teams’ officials, referees and judges and large number of spectators were also present.
Pakistan Army and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa wrestlers dominated the opening day. In the 55kg weight Salman of HEC beat Imran of Railways, Rashid of Railways beat Noor Agha of KP, M Bilal of Punjab beat Talib Hussain of Wapda and Asghar Hussain beat Bilal of Islamabad.
In the 60kg weight category, Sajid Iqbal of Army beat Abdul Wahab of Punjab, M Bilal of HEC beat Rameez Ali of Sindh, Gohar of Wapda beat Danish of Railways, Nauman of KP beat M Salman of Police.
In the 66kg weight, Hamayun of KP beat Ramzan of Wapda, Suleman of Wapda beat Nazir Ahmad of Railways, Mudassir Hussan of Army beat Nouman of Islamabad, Qamar Abbas of Punjab beat Naeem of Sindh.
In the 74kg weight category, Asad Butt of Wapda beat Adnan of Sindh, Ghulam Haider of Army beat Rohail of Islamabad, Farman of HEC beat Aqil of KP, Asghar of Railways beat Umar Butt of Punjab.
In the 84kg weight category, the players of Army, HEC, Punjab, Railways, Police and KP recorded victories. In the 96kg weight, Khan Muhammad of KP beat Furqan of Police, Hamid Ullah of Army beat Ihsan of Islamabad. The players are competing in seven different weight categories comprising 55kg, 60kg, 66kg, 7kg, 84kg, 96kg,  and plus 120kg.