Chittorgarh, Sep 27 (PTI) Big-time wrestling is coming to the fort city for the first time as the Tata Motors Junior National Wrestling Championships (U-23) gets underway here from Friday.

The Under-23 championship, which will see participation of 633 wrestlers from 24 states, is also the first of its kind added to the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) calendar with a view to scout more talent and encourage young wrestlers to the sport.

WFI, which allotted the tournament to Chittorgarh, said it will help Rajasthan unearth new talent from the state.

Rajasthan, which hosted the Senior Nationals way back in 2008, also played hosts to Junior National earlier this year in February at Jaipur.

Talking on the choice of Chittorgarh, Brij Bhushan Saran, President of the Wrestling Federation of India said that Rajasthan has the potential to present more wrestlers to the country.

"Our interiors, especially bordering Haryana, has immense talent. We need to tap and bring them to the fore. Besides, in smaller cities hosting an event of this size will generate a lot of interests," he said.

"It will also encourage more youngsters taking to the sport in the near future," he added.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)