Sakshi Malik

Sakshi Malik

Personal information
Born	(1992-09-03) 3 September 1992 Rohtak, Mokhra village,[1] Haryana, India
Height	162 cm (5 ft 4 in) (2016)[2]
Weight	58 kg (128 lb) (2016)[2]
Sport
Country	India
Event(s)	58 kg freestyle
Coached by	Ishwar Dahiya
Medal record Representing  India Women's Freestyle Wrestling Olympic Games 2016 Rio de Janeiro 58 kg Commonwealth Games 2014 Glasgow 58 kg Asian Championships 2015 Doha 60 kg Commonwealth Championship 2013 Johannesburg[3] 63 kg World Junior Championships 2010 Budapest[4] 59 kg Asian Junior Championships 2009 Manila[5] 59 kg 2012 Almaty[6] 63 kg

Sakshi Malik (born 3 September 1992) is an Indian freestyle wrestler. At the 2016 Summer Olympics, she won the bronze medal in the 58 kg category, becoming the first Indian female wrestler to win a medal at the Olympics and the fourth female Olympic medalist from the country.^[7][8] She is a part of the JSW Sports Excellence Program, along with fellow female wrestlers Vinesh Phogat, Babita Kumari and Geeta Phogat.^[9]

Malik had previously won the silver medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, and the bronze medal at the 2015 Asian Wrestling Championships in Doha.^[1][10]

Early life

Malik was born on 3 September 1992 in Mokhra village^[11] of Haryana's Rohtak district to Sukhbir, a bus conductor with Delhi Transport Corporation, and Sudesh Malik, a supervisor at a local anganwadi (health clinic).^[12][13] According to her father, she was motivated to take up wrestling from seeing her grandfather Badhlu Ram, who was also a wrestler.^[12][14] She began training in wrestling at the age of 12 under a coach, Ishwar Dahiya, at an akhara in Chhotu Ram Stadium, Rohtak. Her coach and she had to face opposition from the locals for having taken up a sport "not for girls".

Career

Malik's first success as a professional wrestler in the international arena came in 2010 at the Junior World Championships where she won the bronze medal in the 58 kg freestyle event.^[15] At the 2014 Dave Schultz International Tournament, she won gold in the 60 kg category.And after that she never stopped and maintained the passion and dedication towards the game.

Malik began her campaign at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games winning her quarterfinal bout against Edwige Ngono Eyia of Cameroon by a 4–0 margin. In the semifinal, she faced Braxton Stone of Canada whom she defeated 3–1 to assure herself of a medal. Her opponent in the final was Aminat Adeniyi of Nigeria who defeated her 4–0 in a closely contested bout.^[16] At the 2014 World Championships in Tashkent, she faced Anta Sambou of Senegal in the Round of 16, and won the bout 4–1. She crashed out of the tournament after a 1–3 loss to Petra Olli of Finland.^[17]

At the 2015 Asian Championships in Doha, Qatar, in a total of five rounds in the 60 kg category, Malik battled through two rounds to finish in third position and claim a bronze medal. In the first round, she faced Luo Xiaojuan of China but was beaten 4–5 by fall verdict. She came back strongly in the second round to beat Munkhtuya Tungalag of Mongolia 13–0, before losing in the third round to Yoshimi Kayama of Japan. She was able to clinch the bronze medal in the fourth round, beating Ayaulym Kassymova of Kazakhstan.^[18]

2016 Summer Olympics

Malik qualified for the 2016 Rio Olympics by defeating China's Zhang Lan in the semifinal of the 58 kg category at the Olympic World qualifying tournament in May 2016.^[19] At the Olympics, she won her Round of 32 bout against Sweden's Johanna Mattsson and Round of 16 bout against Moldova's Mariana Cherdivara. After losing to eventual finalist Valeria Koblova of Russia in the quarterfinal, she qualified for the repechage round where she defeated Pürevdorjiin Orkhon of Mongolia in her first bout. She won the bronze medal after a 8–5 victory over the reigning Asian champion Aisuluu Tynybekova of Kyrgyzstan, despite trailing 0–5 at one stage, in the repechage medal playoff, and became India's first female wrestler to win an Olympic medal.^[20]

Personal life

Malik is currently employed with Indian Railways in the commercial department of its Delhi division, in the Northern Railway zone and is a part of the JSW Sports Excellence Program.^[9][21] Following her bronze medal win at Rio, she was promoted from senior clerk to gazetted officer rank.^[22]

Malik has completed a master's degree in physical education from Maharshi Dayanand University in Rohtak.^[23][24] In September 2016, she was appointed as the university's wrestling director.^[25]

In an interview shortly after the Rio Olympics, Malik said she was engaged to be married to a fellow wrestler Satyawart Kadian later in 2016. Satyawart Kadian is also an international level wrestler and has won medals in Asian Games and Commonwealth Games.^[26]

Awards and recognition

• Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna (2016) - highest sporting honour of India^[27]
• Multiple cash prizes totaling over ₹5.7 crore (US$850,000) from the Indian Railways, the Indian Olympic Association, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, the Government of Delhi,^[28] various state governments, including Haryana,^[29] Madhya Pradesh,^[30] Uttar Pradesh, from private bodies such as the JSW Group^[31] and from political groups including the Indian National Lok Dal.^[32]
• Promotion to gazetted officer rank by her employer, the Indian Railways.^[22]
• Class 2 job offer from the Government of Haryana.^[32]
• 500 yd² land grant from the Government of Haryana.^[25]
• She has also received a brand new BMW from former Indian Cricketer Sachin Tendulkar.

References

External links

• Sakshi Malik at International Wrestling Database