Preeti Jhangiani named president as PAFI receives affiliation from global bodies

People's Armwrestling Federation of India (PAFI) on Tuesday earned official international affiliation and recognition from World Armwrestling Federation (WAF) and Asian Armwrestling Federation (AAF). Bollywood actor and producer Ms. Preeti Jhangiani was named as the President of the newly-formed self-regulatory body, along with Shri Laxman Singh Bhandari as the General Secretary.

Meanwhile, Dr. Shrikant Warankar was named as the Senior Vice President of PAFI, while Shri Tariq Khan and Shri Tapas Bhowmick were named as Committee members.

Preeti Jhangiani has played a key role in growing the popularity of the sport of arm wrestling over the past few years since the inception of the arm wrestling promotion Pro Panja League in 2020, which has gone on to become Asia's biggest promotion, and will launch its first season on Sony Sports Network starting from July 28th this year. Preeti was also named as the President of the Maharashtra Armwrestling Association in March, because of her strenuous efforts in providing a viable platform for Indian armwrestlers.

Accepting the honor, Preeti Jhangiani said, "Thank you to Mr. Jeenbek Mukambetov, President AAF, and the entire team at AAF for their faith and trust in PAFI and our team. As the President of the only official internationally affiliated Armwrestling Federation of India, along with Gen Sec Laxman Singh Bhandari, Vice-President Dr. Srikant Warankar, and our formidable team at PAFI, we aim to popularise arm wrestling from the grassroots up and also concentrate on Para Armwrestling and female arm wrestling tournaments, all over the country."

World Armwrestling Federation General Secretary Mr. Mircea Simionescu-Simicel said, "We are pleased to welcome the new Asian Armwrestling Federation member from India, the People’s Armwrestling Federation India, presided by Mrs. Preeti Jhangiani. We congratulate them for their continuous development and promotion of arm wrestling in India, and we are looking forward to welcoming them to the World Armwrestling Federation during the 2023 World Armwrestling & Para-Armwrestling Championships organized in Almaty, Kazakhstan between the 24th of August and the 3rd of September 2023."

Asian Armwrestling Federation President Mr. Jeenbek Mukambetov added, "At the Asian Armwrestling Federation (AAF) Congress on April 30, 2023, People’s Armwrestling Federation India (PAFI) was unanimously accepted as a member of the AAF and will represent India in international competitions held by the World Armwrestling Federation (WAF). We welcome them wholeheartedly."