Pooja Gehlot
 Gehlot in August 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | 15 March 1997 Lampur village, Delhi, India | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 3 in (160 cm) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country | India | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Freestyle wrestling | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Event | 50 kg/53 kg | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Pooja Gehlot (born 15 March 1997) is an Indian freestyle wrestler. She won the bronze medal in the women's 50 kg event at the 2022 Commonwealth Games held in Birmingham, England.[1][2] She also won a silver medal at the 2019 U23 World Wrestling Championships in the 53 kg category.[3][4] Gehlot participated in this championship after a two year break because of a shoulder injury.
Personal life and background
[edit]Pooja Gehlot was born on 15 March 1997 in Delhi in a Jat Family. She showed keen interest in sports from an early age. Her uncle Dharamveer Singh was a wrestler and he started taking her to an akhara when she was about six years of age. However, her father Vijender Singh was opposed to her playing wrestling and Gehlot started playing volleyball. She went up to play at the junior national-level in volleyball. Although, her coaches thought that she was not tall enough to make an impact in the game.[5][6]
Gehlot's got inspired after Geeta Phogat and Babita Kumari Phogat from Haryana won medals for India at the 2010 Commonwealth Games. The Phogat sisters' success inspired Gehlot to switch to wrestling.[5] She began training professionally in 2014. However, the suburb of Delhi - where her family was living at the time - did not have a wrestling practice centre for girls. She found a training centre in Delhi city, which meant she had to travel three hours by bus every day to reach there and she had to wake up at 3 AM for that. However, the long distance had eventually forced her to shift to a nearby akhara and start training with boys. It was not easy for Gehlot to wrestle with boys and she felt shy wearing a singlet.[7][5] The family moved to Rohtak town in Haryana to enable her to access better training.[5]
She won the national junior wrestling championship in 2016 in the 48 kg weight category. However, in the same year, she suffered an injury that kept her away from wrestling for more than year.[6]
Professional Achievements
[edit]Gehlot found her first success in the international arena when she won a gold medal in the Asian Junior Championship in Taiwan in 2017.
Another major step for her was winning a silver medal at the under-23 World Wrestling Championship in the 51 kg category in Budapest, Hungary in 2019.[8] She also became only the second Indian woman to win a silver medal in that event.[7]
In 2022, she competed at the Yasar Dogu Tournament held in Istanbul, Turkey.
Senior career results
[edit]| Res. | Record | Opponent | Score | Date | Event | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tied 5th at 50 kg | ||||||
| Loss | 6-6 |  Aktenge Keunimjaeva (KAZ)
|
2-9 | 5 October 2023 | 2022 Asian Games |  Hangzhou
|
| Loss | 6-5 |  Remina Yoshimoto (JPN)
|
0-10 | |||
| Win | 6-4 |  Tsogt-Ochiryn Namuuntsetseg (MGL)
|
5-1 | |||
| Win | 5-4 |  Manlika Esati (THA)
|
10-0 | |||
 Bronze Medal at 50 kg
| ||||||
| Loss | 4-4 |  Madison Parks (CAN)
|
6-9 | 6 August 2022 | 2022 Commonwealth Games |  Birmingham
|
| Win | 4-3 |  Christelle Letchdijio (SCO)
|
12-2 | |||
| Win | 3-3 |  Rebecca Muambo (CMR)
|
5-0 | |||
| Win | 2-3 | Christelle Letchdijio (SCO)
|
12-2 | |||
| 6th at 53 kg | ||||||
| Loss | 1-3 |  Leyla Gurbanova (AZE)
|
2-7 | 3 June 2022 | 2022 Bolat Turlykhanov Cup | Almaty, Kazakhstan
|
| Tied 5th at 53 kg | ||||||
| Loss | 1-2 | Bat-Ochiryn Bolortuyaa (MGL)
|
1-11 | 26 February 2022 | 2022 Yasar Dogu Tournament |  Istanbul
|
| Loss | 1-1 |  Dominique Parrish (USA)
|
2-6, Fall | |||
| Win | 1-0 | Aktenge Keunimjaeva (KAZ)
|
8-1 | |||
References
[edit]- ^ Berkeley, Geoff (6 August 2022). "Phogat completes Commonwealth Games hat-trick with another wrestling gold". InsideTheGames.biz. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
- ^ "Wrestling Competition Summary" (PDF). 2022 Commonwealth Games. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 August 2022. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
- ^ Scroll Staff. "Wrestling U-23 World C'ships: Pooja Gehlot wins India's second silver, Sajan to compete for bronze". Scroll.in. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
- ^ "Pooja Gehlot wins silver at Under-23 World Wrestling Championships | More sports News - Times of India". The Times of India. PTI. 2 November 2019. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
- ^ a b c d "पूजा गहलोतः वॉलीबॉल खिलाड़ी जो पहलवान बनीं". BBC News हिंदी (in Hindi). Retrieved 8 March 2021.
- ^ a b "Pooja Gehlot wrestles past hurdles to claim World silver". The Indian Express. 2 November 2019. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
- ^ a b Siwach, Vinay. "Wrestling: After silver at U-23 World Championships, Pooja Gehlot strengthens Olympic belief". Scroll.in. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
- ^ "Pooja Gehlot wins silver at Under-23 World Wrestling Championships | More sports News - Times of India". The Times of India. PTI. 2 November 2019. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
External links
[edit]- Pooja Gehlot at the International Wrestling Database
- Pooja Gehlot at United World Wrestling
- Pooja Gehlot at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games
- 1997 births
- Living people
- Sportswomen from Delhi
- Sport wrestlers from Delhi
- Indian female sport wrestlers
- Wrestlers at the 2022 Commonwealth Games
- Commonwealth Games medallists in wrestling
- Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for India
- Medallists at the 2022 Commonwealth Games
- Wrestlers at the 2022 Asian Games
- Asian Games competitors for India