World Championship medalists Deepak Punia, Anshu Malik, Sarita Mor, U20 world champion Antim Panghal, and U23 world champion Aman Sehrawat are among the wrestlers in India's Asian Wrestling Championships 2023 team. Earlier, they were selected through national trials held in New Delhi on Friday and Saturday.

Also Read: ISSF Shotgun World Cup 2023: Trap shooter Prithviraj Tondaiman clinches bronze in Doha

Moreover, the 36th edition of the Asian Wrestling Championships will be held in Astana, Kazakhstan from April 9 to 14. It was to be held in New Delhi but was shifted abroad due to the pending investigation by the Indian Sports Ministry against the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI). The national tests, held at the Indira Gandhi Arena, were conducted under the supervision of a centrally-appointed monitoring committee instead of the WFI.

Meanwhile, Deepak, a Tokyo Olympian and 2021 World Championships silver medalist in 86kg, will wrestle in the 92kg category. While Aman Sehrawat will represent India in 57kg in the absence of Olympic silver medalist Ravi Kumar Dahiya, who pulled out of the Asian Wrestling Championships due to injury. Earlier, on Friday, U23 World Champion Aman defeated Atish Todkar 14-4 in the final to top his favorite division.

However, olympic bronze medalist Bajrang Punia missed the trials. On the other hand, Commonwealth Games champion Naveen Malik (70kg) and national-level champion (74kg) Sagar Jaglan suffered huge upsets in the trials. Naveen was defeated by world junior bronze medalist Mulayam Yadav while Sagar lost to National Games champion Yash Tushir.

Meanwhile, in the absence of veteran Sakshi Malik and Asian and Commonwealth champion Vinesh Phogat, the Indian women's wrestling team will see 19-year-old Antim Panghal leading India's campaign. Antim is the current Asian junior champion and last year became the first female wrestler from India to win gold at the World U20 Wrestling Championships held in Bulgaria. She will also compete in the 53kg category. At the same time, silver medalist at the 2021 World Championships Anshu Malik and bronze medalist in that event in 59kg Sarita Mor will also be some of the top female wrestlers participating in the event.

Also Read: FIH Pro League 2022-23 full schedule and fixtures

Asian Wrestling Championships 2023: Indian Squad

Women:

• Neelam Sirohi (50kg)
• Antim Panghal (53kg)
• Sito (55kg)
• Anshu Malik (57kg)
• Sarita Mor (59kg)
• Sonam Malik (62kg)
• Manisha (65kg)
• Nisha Dahiya (68kg)
• Reetika Hooda (72kg)
• Priya Malik (76kg)

Men's freestyle:

• Aman Sehrawat (57kg)
• Pankaj (61kg)
• Anuj Kumar (65kg)
• Mulayam Yadav (70kg)
• Yash Tushir (74kg)
• Deepak (79kg)
• Jonty Kumar (86kg)
• Deepak Punia (92kg)
• Deepak Nehra (97kg)
• Anirudh Gulia (125kg)

Greco Roman:

• Rupin (55kg)
• Sumit (60kg)
• Neeraj Chhikara (63kg)
• Ashu Bazard (67kg)
• Vikas (72kg)
• Sajan Bhanwala (77kg)
• Rohit Dahiya (82kg)
• Sunil Kumar (87kg)
• Narender Cheema (97kg)
• Naveen Sevlia (130kg)

Instagram has transformed into a vibrant platform where athletes can engage with millions of fans and followers. Sharing with us their experiences, their joys and their achievements on Instagram, these are some athletes who we may not know properly, but definitely deserve to.

In this article, we will take a look at 10 unknown Indian athletes to follow on Instagram in 2025.

Also Read: Most Popular Indian Sports You Didn’t Know Existed

Unknown Indian Athletes to Follow on Instagram in 2025

10. Pooja Bishnoi (Runner)

• Followers - 1.3M
• Account - poojabishnoi36

Pooja Bishnoi, a 13-year-old prodigy set a new meet record in the 3,000m race at the 2024 U-19 IPSC Athletics Tournament. She’s already won gold medals in the 800m, 1500m, and 3000m, showing the world that she’s not just a fast runner, she’s a future Olympic star.  

Her hard work and strong will caught the eye of the Virat Kohli Foundation, which now supports her training, food, and travel.  

Pooja is also becoming popular on social media, inspiring young athletes across the country. 

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9. Simran Verma (Boxing)

• Followers - 232k
• Account - simran12verma

Simran Verma is a prolific boxer and athlete who competes in the 52 kg category. Simran has won a Bronze at the Sub-Junior National and Silver in the U-17 School Nationals. After being selected to join IIS, Simran took her game to the next level and won her first international Silver Medal at the Junior Nations’ Cup in Serbia in August 2019.

Simran continued to train and fight hard and she went on the become the National Champion in 2021. She also bagged the bronze medal in the 2021 Khelo India Youth Games. She aims to be a part of the Indian Olympic team.

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8. Akash Shinde (Kabaddi)

• Followers - 169k
• Account - akash_shinde_3

In the heart of Nashik's Adgaon village, a young boy named Akash Shinde dared to dream big. Little did he know that his journey from playing in the muddy grounds of his town to becoming a PKL winner would inspire a generation of aspiring athletes.

In the PKL Season 9, Akash truly announced his arrival, becoming a formidable force on the mat. In the 22 matches that Akash played on the way to his first PKL final, he scored 139 raid points, averaging 6.32 raid point per match.

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7. Aishwarya Mishra (Track and Field)

• Followers - 32.8k
• Account - mishra_aishwarya8856

Aishwarya Mishra, one of India's top quarter-milers, has left behind the controversy of 2022 and re-established herself with strong performances at the Asian level and the National Games. The Maharashtra athlete, who was once under scrutiny for missing a dope test, has proved her abilities on the track with multiple medals and record-breaking performances.

In 2022, Mishra won gold in the women's 400m event at the Federation Cup in Kozhikode with a time of 51.18 seconds, making her the third-fastest Indian quarter-miler. 

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6. Murali Sreeshankar (Long Jump)

• Followers - 73.1k
• Account - sreeshankarmurali

Murali Sreeshankar is an Indian athlete who competes in the long jump event. He created a national record of 8.36 metres set in 2022. He also grabbed silver medal in Asian Games 2023.

The 26 year old set to make a comeback from what many would have perceived a ‘career-ending’ injury. Murali has been out of competitions since before the Paris Olympics.

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Also Read: 10 Sports Podcasts Every Indian Fan Should Listen To

5. Niharika Vashisht (Triple Jump)

• Followers - 251k
• Account - niharika.vashhisht

Niharika Vashisht is a national gold medalist in the triple jump. Vashisht grabbed eyeballs of everyone by beating local favourite Sandra Babu in the women’s triple jump at the National Federation Senior Athletics Championship.

A social media influencer, Niharika has quite a following on the internet. She is making prudent use of the revenue she earns from social media account by funding her own training expenses.

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4. Pyari Xaxa (Football)

• Followers - 39k
• Account - xaxapyari

Having made her senior team debut in 2015, just after turning 18, the girl from Kuarmunda – a small town in Odisha – was one of the most promising youngsters when the Indian women clinched gold in the South Asian Games in 2016.

Pyari recently voted best Women's Indian Player of the Year.

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3. Avani Lekhara (Para-shooting)

• Followers - 138k
• Account - avani.lekhara

Para-shooter Avani Lekhara is the first Indian woman to win two gold medals in the Para Olympic history. She is also the second Indian after javelin thrower Devendra Jhajharia to win two gold medals at the Games. 

Avani's journey did not stop at the Paralympics. She continued to shine in various international competitions, including the World Cups and Asian Para Games, where she consistently won medals and set new benchmarks. 

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2. Ayhika Mukherjee (Table Tennis)

• Followers - 18k
• Account - ayhika.m

An Arjuna Awardee, Ayhika Mukherjee from West Bengal has been representing India at the global stages since multiple years, having won many medals. She most recently won a historical Bronze Medal along with Sutirtha Mukherjee at the 2022 Asian Games, beating the Chinese World Champion duo in the Quarter Finals. 

Having already won multiple international medals, Ayhika’s career is on an upward graph as she continues to rise the ranks and improve her play.

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Also Read: Best Indian Sports Biopics of All Time

1. Sheetal Devi (Para-Archery)

• Followers - 607k
• Account - sheetal_archery

Teenaged Indian para-archer Sheetal Devi made history at the Paris 2024 Paralympics, clinching the bronze medal in the mixed compound archery team event alongside Rakesh Kumar. At just 17 years old, she became India’s youngest Paralympic medallist and only the second armless archer in history to win a Paralympic medal.

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Neeraj Chopra finished second with a best throw of 84.14m at the Janusz Kusociński Memorial competition at Silesian Stadium in Poland on Friday.

Julian Weber finished first with an 86.12m throw.

Though the double-time Olympic medalist looked disappointed and frustrated after a few foul throws to start with, his fourth year in in top two of every tournament he participated in continued.

Read Also | Neeraj Chopra’s best throws: Here are all the top throws by javelin ace Neeraj Chopra

A few days ago, Neeraj had breached the 90m mark and registered his personal best and National record with a 90.23m throw in the Doha Diamond League. Unfortunately, even in that tournament also he finished second to Julian Weber's 91.06m throw. 

Hello and welcome to the LIVE blog of Doha Diamond League 2025, where the largest Indian contingent in terms of numbers at any single Diamond League meet to date is going to perform. 

Double Olympic medalist Neeraj Chopra will take part in the men's javelin event. Kishore Jena will be the second Indian to participate in that event.

Read Also | NEERAJ CHOPRA INJURY: A SAGA OF STRAIN, TECHNIQUE, AND RECOVERY

In the men's 5000m, Gulveer Singh will compete for India. Meanwhile, Parul Chaudhary will compete in the Women's 3000m steeplechase event. 

This is Koushik Biswas, who will bring you all the LIVE updates, results and commentary of the Doha Diamond League 2025 for you. So, stay tuned and enjoy the coverage. 

The year 2025 is going to be exciting for Indian sports fans as it promises an action-packed calendar. This includes world events in hockey, squash, boxing, badminton, shooting and cricket, alongside the National Games and Khelo India competitions. The country is set to witness a wide range of sporting events this year. 

Also Read: Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award 2024: Full Winners List

After bidding goodbye to an eventful 2024, an exciting 2025 awaits sports fans as far as India are concerned. India will host several big competitions across sports this year, including the Women’s ODI World Cup and the Para World Athletics Championships.

Apart from hosting competitions, India will also take part in several multi-nation tournaments internationally, including the ICC Champions Trophy which will be held in a hybrid model with matches taking place in Pakistan and UAE.

Also Read: ICC Men’s Champions Trophy 2025 schedule announced

Several Indian athletes and teams, including the likes of Neeraj Chopra and Manu Bhaker, will be in action this year. The India women’s cricket team will hope to end a long wait to possibly clinch the Women’s ODI World Cup.

Here’s the complete list of major sports events in India 2025.

Major sports events in India 2025