In-form Geeta Phogat to lead Indian women wrestling challenge in 26th Asian Championships

FILE PHOTO: Geeta Phogat with the gold medal in the 55kg category at Commonwealth Games in 2010

The names of K.D. Jadhav, Kartar Singh, Sushil Kumar, Yogeshwar Dutt will always find mention among wrestling fans of the country whenever there is a discussion about grapplers, who have served the nation with distinction. At least, the new generation can look up to these wrestlers in pursuit of glory.

But when it came to women’s wrestling, there was no such sporting legacy created. But one woman – Geeta Phogat is showing signs of being the best thing to have happened to Indian women’s wrestling.

The Bhiwani girl took to wrestling like a duck to water. She picked up the sport at the age of 12 under the watchful eyes of her father Mahavir Singh, who himself was a famed village wrestler. Mahavir Singh’s five daughters play wrestling, a fair indication of how grappling runs in the blood of the family.

Geeta Phogat showed immense potential while coming through the junior ranks. She won a hat-trick of gold medals in the 2003, 2004 and 2005 Asian Cadet Wrestling Championships.

Supported by Mittal Champions Trust, Geeta underlined her wrestling prowess, bagging the gold at the 2007 Junior Asian Wrestling Championships.

Having enjoyed success at the junior level, the strapping woman grappler stepped into the senior wrestling arena at the 2009 Senior Commonwealth Wrestling Championships held in Jalandhar, where she picked up a gold medal in the 55kg category.

Her younger sister Babita also clinched a silver medal in the 51 kg category.

She continued her rise to prominence, becoming the first Indian woman wrestler to win a gold medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in front of her home fans in New Delhi.

Geeta Phogat at Olympics 2012

Geeta scaled a new ‘high’ when she became the country’s first woman grappler to qualify for the Olympics (she booked a berth in the 55-kg category after clinching gold at the Asian Qualifying Tournament in Astana, Kazakhstan, in April) – she made it to the 2012 London Olympics where she bowed out of medal contention, losing to Ukranian and Canadian wrestlers respectively.

Her first event after the London Olympics was the Women’s World Wrestling Championship held at Edmonton, Canada last September, where she secured a bronze in the 55 kg freestyle category.

Geeta shifted to the 59 kg category for the first time at the recent 5th Senior Women’s Wrestling World Cup held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, and turned in a decent performance, winning all her bouts against her opponents from Japan, Canada, Mongolia and Belarus as the Indian team finished fifth.

With Geeta now in fine form, she would be expected to come up with another superb show in the 26th Senior Asian Wrestling Championship beginning at the K.D. Jadhav Wrestling Stadium in New Delhi from April 18-22.

The 24-year-old, who bagged a bronze at the 2012 Asian Championship, would have her younger sister Babita Kumari for company – Babita had pocketed a bronze at the 2012 World Championship.

The squad: Priyanka Singh (48 kg), Vinesh (51 kg), Babita Kumari (55 kg), Geeta Phogat (59 kg), Geetika Jakhar (63 kg), Navjot Kaur (67 kg), Jyoti (72 kg).

Chief coach: O.P. Yadav

Coach: Kripa Shankar

Foreign expert: Emzar Makharadze