Sudhir Saha was a wrestler, coach and wrestling administrator in India.
Background
Sudhir Saha was the youngest son of Nandalal Saha and started wrestling at the age of six. Sudhir Saha was trained by his father Nandalal Saha, and subsequently by Ustad (meaning "expert" in Hindi, a title commonly given to coaches) Majid Palwan from Lahore.
Career
He introduced Greco-Roman wrestling in India. In the 1940 Senior National Wrestling Championship, Sudhir placed first in the middleweight category. After his wrestling career, Sudhir devoted his time to coaching and judge/refereeing.
During his early coaching career, Knights of Pythias Rai and Nirmal Bose, from Panchanan Bayam Samity, one of India"s oldest wrestling club, represented India in the 1948 London Olympics.
Four years later, the 1952 Helsinki Olympic training camp was held at Panchanan Bayam Samity. Two of Sudhir"s trainees, Nirmal Bose and Niranjan Das, from Panchanan Bayam Samity represented India in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics.
In 1957, Sudhir Saha attended the first Fédération Internationale des Luttes Associées (FILA) Judge/Referee clinic for technical officials in Paris, with the aim of officials coming together to discuss theory and practicals on wrestling techniques and minute details of officiating. This is where he obtained his international judge/referee license.
In 1961, Sudhir Saha completed his International Coaching degree from Japan.
He started his refereeing career in 1953, supervising more than 1500 wrestling bouts. In the 1964 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo, Japan, Sudhir represented India as a wrestling judge/referee. Under his supervision, the first Greco-Roman style wrestling competition was held in Calcutta at Panchanan Bayam Samity, one of India"s oldest wrestling club
In 1965, at his initiative, Greco-Roman wrestling style was introduced in National Championship by the All India Wrestling Federation.
Actor,, learnt the art of wrestling under the supervision of Sudhir Saha at Panchanan Bayam Samity, Jorabagan Park, Kolkata.
Membership
He was also the Joint Secretary and Vice President of Wrestling Federation of India. General Secretary, West Bengal Wrestling Federation. And he was responsible for technical positions such as Mat Chairman, Member of the Selection Committee, Chairman of the Greco-Roman Style in India, and the Judge/Referee Association of India.