Pooja Gehlot

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.

Pooja Gehlot
Gehlot in August 2022
Personal information
Born (1997-03-15) 15 March 1997
Lampur village, Delhi, India
Height5 ft 3 in (160 cm)
Sport
CountryIndia
SportFreestyle wrestling
Event(s)50 kg/53 kg
Medal record
Women's freestyle wrestling
Representing  India
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Commonwealth Games - - 1
World U23 Wrestling Championships - 1 -
Total 0 1 1
Commonwealth Games
Bronze medal – third place2022 Birmingham50 kg
World U23 Championships
Silver medal – second place2019 Budapest53 kg

Personal life and background

Pooja Gehlot was born on 15 March 1997 in Delhi. 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

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
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 China 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
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Bronze Medal at 50 kg
Loss 4-4  Madison Parks (CAN) 6-9 6 August 2022 2022 Commonwealth Games Serbia 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 Kazakhstan Almaty, Kazakhstan
Tied 5th at 53 kg
Loss 1-2  Bat-Ochiryn Bolortuyaa (MGL) 1-11 26 February 2022 2022 Yasar Dogu Tournament Turkey Istanbul
Loss 1-1  Dominique Parrish (USA) 2-6, Fall
Win 1-0  Aktenge Keunimjaeva (KAZ) 8-1

References
  1. Berkeley, Geoff (6 August 2022). "Phogat completes Commonwealth Games hat-trick with another wrestling gold". InsideTheGames.biz. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
  2. "Wrestling Competition Summary" (PDF). 2022 Commonwealth Games. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 August 2022. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
  3. 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.
  4. "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.
  5. "पूजा गहलोतः वॉलीबॉल खिलाड़ी जो पहलवान बनीं". BBC News हिंदी (in Hindi). Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  6. "Pooja Gehlot wrestles past hurdles to claim World silver". The Indian Express. 2 November 2019. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  7. Siwach, Vinay. "Wrestling: After silver at U-23 World Championships, Pooja Gehlot strengthens Olympic belief". Scroll.in. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  8. "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.
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