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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nGeorgia\u2019s Emzarios Bentinidis will be the men\u2019s freestyle coach, Japan\u2019s Kosei Akaishi will look after the women wrestlers, Gogi Koguashvili will be the coach for men\u2019s Greco-Roman while American Ian Butler will be the High-Performance Director, according to the Wrestling Federation of India release on Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
India has won at least one medal at the Olympic Games since 2008 and the national contingent recently grabbed 17 medals, including two gold and six silver, in the Asian Wrestling Championships in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThese appointments mark a significant milestone in Indian wrestling. By bringing in international expertise and establishing a dedicated high-performance leadership structure, we are building a system that supports our athletes at every level. Our goal is not only to win medals but to create a sustainable pathway for long-term excellence,\u201d said WFI president Sanjay Singh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All the four foreign experts come with a pedigree of producing champions. Bentinidis, popularly known as Shako, has already worked with some of the country\u2019s top freestyle wrestlers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gogi, a five-time world champion, has earlier served as the head coach of Russia\u2019s Greco Roman team, helping them clinch 62 world championships medals including 18 gold between 2006-2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Japan\u2019s Kosei Akaishi has served as national coach and High-Performance Director with his country\u2019s national team which went on to win four gold and two bronze medals in 2020 Tokyo Olympics and a record 8 gold, one silver and two bronze medals in Paris 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The men\u2019s freestyle and Greco-Roman coaches will join the National Coaching camps currently underway at SAI\u2019s Regional Centre in Lucknow while Akaishi will be stationed in Indira Gandhi Stadium, New Delhi for the women\u2019s camp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The three coaches will work together with Butler, who will be shuttling between Lucknow and New Delhi as the Indian contingent begins its countdown for the 2026 Asian Games to be held in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, in September.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
India has so far won a total of 65 medals including 11 gold in the history of the Asian Games. In the last edition of the Games held in China the Indian contingent finished with six medals including one silver and five bronze and the WFI is confident that with the appointment of these coaches, India could look to reach double figures in wrestling medals in Japan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
New Delhi Focused on winning multiple medals at the 2026 Asian Games and 2028 Olympics, the Wrestling Federation of India has appointed three foreign coaches and a High-Performance Director to work with the national squad and the foreign experts are expected to resume office next month Georgia\u2019s Emzarios Bentinidis will be the men\u2019s freestyle coach,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":31307,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[18347,18345,18348,18351,18350,18344,18349,18343,18346],"class_list":["post-31306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-33","tag-and-akaishi","tag-appointed-as-coaches","tag-as-wfi-aims","tag-asian-games","tag-at-the-2026","tag-butler-to-be-hpd","tag-koguashvili","tag-shako","tag-to-create-history"],"yoast_head":"\n