Geeta Kumari became the first ever women wrestler from India to qualify for the Olympics this year, since the inception of women’s wrestling.
She defeated Ji-Eun Um of Korea 5-0 on technical points in the final of the 55kg category to win a gold medal in the Asian Qualifying Tournament in Astana (Kazakhstan) thus securing a place in 2012 London Olympics.
This is the first time an Indian female wrestler has qualified for the Olympics since women’s wrestling was introduced in the 2004 Athens Olympics. Thus so far a total of three wrestlers had qualified for the London Games. Others being male wrestlers Amit Kumar (55kg) and Yogeshwar Dutt (60kg) who had qualified earlier by clinching a gold and silver medal respectively at the same qualifying event
Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has congratulated the three wrestlers from the state who have qualified for the London Olympics.
Besides the Astana event, India will also get a chance to field their wrestlers in two other qualifying events — China (April 27-29) and Finland (May 4-6).