Senior Wrestling National Championship: Nisha Dahiya overcomes ‘fake news’ shock to retain title

Nisha Dahiya retained her national title on Thursday (November 11) at the Wrestling National Championships in Gonda, Nandininagar, Uttar Pradesh. Dahiya overcame an unfortunate confusion with a namesake who was murdered in Sonipat, Haryana.

The 23-year-old won the gold medal in just 30 seconds after pinning her rival Jaspreet Kaur in Punjab.

“Yesterday’s event did have an effect but I overcame it thanks to Sakshi di and my coaches,” Nisha Dahiya told Sportskeeda.

On Wednesday, news of a wrestler named Nisha Dahiya being shot dead in Sonipat surfaced. Many confused it with the U-23 world championship medalist. However, it was later cleared by Dahiya that the deceased wrestler had a different personality.

The Haryana wrestler’s agility and attacking moves were too hot to handle for her opponents. She stood out with her leg attacks. Nisha Dahiya’s railways coach Kripa Shankar said they knew she was very strong mentality and would win the nationals title.

“She has overcome many obstacles in her life and thankfully this fake news also got clarified quite soon. She is a good wrestler and we had confidence that Nisha Dahiya will once again become the champion,” he said.

Nisha Dahiya was representing Railways in the Wrestling National Championships which is being held in Gonda, Uttar Pradesh.

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Gursharanpreet Kaur wins seventh Wrestling National Championship title

Meanwhile, in the women’s 76kg competition, veteran wrestler Gursharanpreet Kaur won the national title after her opponent Pooja Sihag forfeited the bout due to an injury to her elbow. It was the seventh gold medal for Gurusharanpreet at the Nationals.

Commonwealth Games 2018 medalist Kiran won bronze in the same weight class.

The first day saw competition in two categories of women and Greco Roman weight divisions. Gyanender (60kg), Sagar (63kg), Harpreet Singh (82kg) and Sunil Kumar (87kg) are amongst the top names to become national champions in the Greco Roman wrestling competition.

The two finalists in each category will represent India at the Commonwealth Wrestling Championship, scheduled to be held in Pretoria, South Africa from December 3-5.

While the gold medal winner will travel at the government’s expense, the runner-up will have to go on his own.