ZEE Talkies launches Maharashtra Kusti League

Wrestling is a popular sport in Maharashtra, and ZEE Talkies has come up with an innovative franchise based tournament of the traditional sport — the Maharashtra Kusti League.

At an event in a Mumbai hotel, Sharad Pawar, head of the Maharashtra Wrestling Federation and president of Nationalist Congress Party along with Rajya Sabha MP Subhash Chandra launched the league.

The tournament will be held from March 9 to 18 with eight teams participating in it. Wrestlers from world over will compete for a prize money of Rs 25 lakh.

Pawar, who launched the event, wished the league a grand success. "The Kusti league is a great initiative with the platform given by ZEE group. I am confident that wrestlers from different states will get opportunity and support to showcase their talent," Pawar said on Friday.

The former Maharashtra chief minister also thanked and welcomed Chandra for supporting the sport.

Chandra thanked Pawar and the state wrestling body for their support. "Maharashtra is my karmabhoomi (work place) and Haryana is my janmabhoomi (birth place), and both the places have wrestling as its traditional sport... Cricket is big in India while our traditional sport have been sidelined. Every state has a regional and traditional sport. I want to bring back them back to the mainstream," the Rajya Sabha MP said.