Geeta Phogat (born 15 December 1988)[1] is a freestyle wrestler who won India's first ever gold medal in wrestling at the Commonwealth Games in 2010. She is also the first Indian female wrestler to have qualified for the Olympic Summer Games.[5]
She won India’s first ever gold medal in women’s wrestling at the Commonwealth Games held in New Delhi, beating Emily Bensted from Australia in the gold medal match with a score of 1-0, 7-0.[14][15]
Phogat won a gold medal in the Wrestling FILA Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament that concluded at Almaty, Kazakhstan in April 2012.[16] She has undergone rigorous training at the Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports, (NSNIS), Patiala, under the guidance of chief coach O.P. Yadav and foreign expert Ryan Dobo.
Phogat was beaten in her opening fight by Canadian Tonya Verbeek (1–3).[17] She received a chance to win the bronze medal since the Canadian went to the finals. In the repechage round, she lost her first match to Lazareva from Ukraine.[1][18]
In the first round, Phogat faced Maria GurovaofRussia, beating her 3:1. The second round brought a 5:0 loss for Phogat against Saori YoshidaofJapan. With the Japanese grappler making the finals, Phogat contested in the repechage round, first against Akziya Dautbayeva of Kazakhstan whom she beat 3:1 and then winning the bronze medal bout 3:0 against Natalya SinishinofUkraine.[20]
In the first round of the 2012 Asian Wrestling Championships, Phogat lost to her Japanese opponent Kanako Murata in a 5:0 scoreline. With the Japanese grappler entering the finals, Phogat was able to contest in the bronze medal round and won the bronze medal in the 55 kg beating Sumiya Erdenechimeg from Mongolia 3:1.
At the tournament held in Johannesburg, South Africa, Phogat finished second and won the silver medal in the women's freestyle 59 kg category after losing the final bout to Oluwafunmilayo AdeniyiofNigeria.[21]
At the 2015 Asian Wrestling ChampionshipsinDoha, Phogat finished third, winning the bronze medal in the freestyle 58 kg category along with Aiym Abdildina of Kazakhstan.[22] At the 2015 World ChampionshipsinLas Vegas, she was drawn against nine-time world Champion, the Japanese Kaori Icho, and lost to her in the opening round 0–10. With Icho qualifying for the finals, Phogat was given a chance to contest in the repechage for the bronze medal. She again lost 0–10 to her opponent, Elif Jale Yeşilırmak of Turkey.[23]
Aamir Khan's film Dangal is loosely based on Geeta Phogat and her sisters lives.[24][25] Her role in the movie is played by Fatima Sana Shaikh and her younger self is played by Zaira Wasim.[26] Wrestler Pooja Dhanda was screened and selected to play the role of Babita Phogat in this movie, which she could not play due to an injury, and later she went on to defeat senior Phogat sister Geeta Phogat in the real life national championship.[27]
^"RESULTS – 2011 Championships". commonwealthwrestling.sharepoint.com. Commonwealth Amateur Wrestling Association (CAWA). Archived from the original on 13 March 2016. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
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