LUCKNOW: Shako Bentinidis, the Georgian coach who played a pivotal role in Olympic bronze medallist Bajrang Punia’s rise, is back as India’s freestyle wrestling coach with a mission to mould fresh potential into medal contenders.
Despite having less than four months to help Indian wrestlers win laurels at the Japan Asian Games in September-October, Bentinidis wants them to excel at the Senior World Wrestling Championships at Kazakhstan in October-November and before the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
“For me, every event before the Olympics holds big importance. I want Indian wrestlers to be in peak form at the Asian Games as well as the World Championships before the LA Games,” Bentinidis said on Sunday at the men’s Asian Games selection trials here.
Bentinidis picked reigning U23 world champion Sujeet Kalkal as a genuine medal prospect in the hotly contested 65kg category – provided the young wrestler sharpened his technique.
“First it was Sushil Kumar, then Bajrang and now Sujeet,” Bentinidis said. The lineage raises expectation while providing an opportunity to Sujeet. The coach praised the wrestler’s physical gifts, including power and defensive instincts, and wanted those attributes to be matched by refined technique to dominate at global level.
“Sujeet has won ranking series tournaments and is a world champion at the U23 level, but the Olympics are different,” he said. “When Sujeet adds a little more quality to his technical wrestling, he can beat anybody,” the Georgian said.
Bentinidis also exhorted Indian coaches to keep learning. “I want to create a culture of continuous learning among Indian coaches, and I feel they need greater exposure to international training methods and evolving tactical trends in world wrestling,” he said.
He rejected the notion that Indian coaches are inherently inadequate, pointing to their producing champions like Sushil and Bajrang. However, he said the sport has evolved rapidly and so must the coaching practices. “Some coaches work in academies for 20 years but never attend international camps or competitions. Wrestling is changing all the time. If you stop learning, you stay where you are,” he said.
He also stressed that success at senior elite level hinges not only on physicality but also on psychological readiness, tactical clarity and meticulous preparation. Drawing on his international experience, he cautioned that even multiple-time world champions have failed to reach the Olympic podium because of small errors, a mismanaged weight cut, a poorly planned training cycle, or mistakes in the final days before competition.
To Bentinidis, the difference between a world-class contender and an Olympic medallist often lies in technical precision. It includes the ability to convert dominant moments into match-winning points and the avoiding of giving away cheap opportunities under pressure. He urged wrestlers to treat every tournament seriously as defeats can have a psychological impact, eroding confidence if repeated.
Bentinidis emphasised that observation, including watching matches or studying videos online, cannot be the substitute for hands-on exposure in international camps. He plans to bridge that gap by involving academy coaches in national camps whenever feasible so that they can witness modern methods up close and take those learnings back to their centres.
“When coaches learn something new, they become motivated and bring fresh energy into the system,” he said, explaining his long-term vision helping academy coaches to return to teach hundreds of young wrestlers.
His decision to return to India is due to unfinished business and belief in Indian wrestling’s upward trajectory. “I love Indian wrestling and I am proud of what we achieved before. This is the next step in my career and I believe Indian wrestling can reach an even higher level.”
Bentinidis also spoke about Indian wrestlers’ seeming weakness at higher weight divisions. “If we keep talking about problems in heavyweight categories, those problems will remain. We need a positive mindset, better methods and more work. Then results will come.”
