Wrestling gaining popularity in Nepal

Growing up we’ve probably come across at least a few wrestling fans, among those fans was Ramesh Tamang from Sindhupalchowk. Tamang, a 38-year-old who stepped into ‘Ring Wrestling’ (RW) three years ago, says he was inspired by Brock Lesner and Stone Cold.

He was always fond of wrestling and within a short period of time, Tamang is one of the top five wrestlers in the country.

To his fans, he is known as 'Chattan' which means ‘rock’ in the Nepali language. Tamang says the reason he chose the name is that he needs to be as strong as a rock to be in the profession.

On the other hand, Tamang has also won the bronze medal at the South Asian Federation Games (SAF) in wushu.

He has been a wushu player and a coach for 23 years now. The nine times national champion also represented Tribhuwan Army Club in many national games and has also been the Wushu coach of TAC for years.

Despite stepping into a new sport Tamang’s love for Wushu still remains the same. ‘Having a martial arts background helped me a lot in Wrestling”, says Tamang. With only six months of training, Tamang stepped into the wrestling ring and has already participated in about 16 national and international wrestling matches.

Tamang says wrestlers Thaku (Surya Gurung) and Nuwakotey Tiger (Kamal Lama), chief coach of Nepal Ring wrestling Association (NRWA), are the ones who inspired him and helped him pave his way into the sport.

Tamang says, “Wrestling is my passion and nothing will stop me from getting in the ring.”

Reminiscing about the time when he injured his leg, Tamang says how he didn’t back out. As wrestling is a dangerous sport, in one of his matches in Pokhara, Tamang also had a knee ligament injury but just weeks after he was back in the ring for another match.

Ring wrestling is a rising industry; NRWA has already been registered in the National Sports Council.

“General Secretary of NRWA, Subarna Shrestha along with chief coach Kamal Lama are the people carrying wrestling towards a better future in the nation,” explains Tamang. Currently, there are about 32 Nepali and non-Nepali players training under NRWA.

“While wushu taught me discipline, wrestling gave me popularity. However, my love and passion for both sports is still the same,” says Tamang