India's only competitive BJJ Brown Belt athlete, Siddharth scripts history after breaking into top 10

Riding on a string of strong performances, Indian trailblazer Siddharth Singh scripted history by breaking into the top 10 of AJP Tour rankings.

The 36-year-old New Delhi-based Jiu-Jitsu athlete became the first Indian in the history of the game to reach the top 10.

Iraq’s Ali Al Rikabi tops the rankings, while Siddharth occupies the seventh spot with 400 points.

Speaking to Gulf Today, Siddharth said: "I am very excited to be in the top 10 rankings of the top Brown Belt Jiu-Jitsu competitors in Asia (Masters category) in 2022.

"We are still in the middle of the calendar year, so if I can stay healthy, I want to compete in at least two more AJP events this year — the Grand Slam and the World Championships and try to break into the top 5.

“Hopefully, this can inspire the rest of our Indian Jiu-Jitsu athletes to go outside India and test themselves against the best in the world and hopefully put India on the Jiu-Jitsu and combat sports map," he added.

Siddharth won a silver medal at the recently held AJP Tour Dubai International Pro.

The competition was organised by the UAE Jiu-Jitsu Federation in collaboration with AJP and was held at Shabab Al Ahli Dubai Club.

Athletes from all over the world competed in the categories of amateurs and professionals with blue, purple, brown, and black belts in the championship.

This was Siddharth’s second silver on the UAE shores, as he got lucky in his third attempt after finishing second in the Brown Belt, 77 kg, Masters Division at the Abu Dhabi World Masters Jiu Jitsu Championship in 2021.

He was the first Indian to win a medal in the World Masters tournament and the highest ever medal received by any Indian at the World Championships.

He's also the only Indian with a competitive brown belt in BJJ—a grappling and submission-based self-defense martial art and combat sport — and has represented the country in a number of international competitions.

Besides taking part in major events, Siddharth also runs training facilities in India, which are aimed at popularising the game and giving back to the society.

He owns Crosstrain Fight Club, which has three branches (in Saket, Noida and Vikaspuri) where Siddharth trains six days a week.