162,392 fans participated in the poll that started on 15th December over a period of 10 days to choose the best male and female Indian wrestlers of the just-concluded 2019 season.

Surpringly Vinesh Phogat got a close fight from Komal Panchal, who won the Cadet World Championship gold medal this year. Vinesh won in a photo finish with 40.7% votes with Panchal pulling in 40.3% votes.

2018 World Championship medallist Pooja Dhanda polled 13.6% votes and Under-23 world medallist Pooja Gehlot got 5.4% of total votes.

The ‘Best Male Wrestler’ award was claimed by UWW Junior Freestyle Wrestler of the Year 2019, Deepak Punia, who polled 41.6% votes The youngster beat competition from World Championships medallists, Rahul Aware (39.7% votes), Bajrang Punia (11.3% votes) and Ravi Dahiya (7.4% votes).

“I am thankful to WrestlingTV for conducting this poll and it feels great to receive such humongous response from fans for the first time. This will inspire me to continue giving my best,” said Deepak Punia who had a stellar year that saw the 18-year-old win the Junior World Championships gold, Senior World Championships silver and he also secured the World No. 1 ranking in 86kg.