Indian wrestling has emerged as one of the biggest medal winning sport for the country at the global level in the last decade. The wrestlers of the country have made India proud on number of occasions. WrestlingTV is listing down the 10 biggest performances for the Indian wrestling in the last decade.
1) Sushil Kumar: 2012 London Olympics Silver
Sushil Kumar by winning silver medal at the London Olympic games in 2012 got his name written in the sports history annals of the country as he became the first ever Indian sportsperson to win individual medals in two successive Olympic Games. Kumar had won a bronze at the 2008 Beijing Games. The wrestler bagged the silver after his Japanese opponent Tatsuhiro Yonemitsu overpowered him 3-1 in the gold medal bout in the 66-kg freestyle category on 12 August 2012.
2) Yogeshwar Dutt: 2012 London Olympics Bronze
Yogeshwar Dutt’s bronze is without any doubt hailed as one of the most bravest performance by the Indian athlete at the Olympics. With a severely bruised eye, the champion from India won a bronze medal. Dutt defeated North Korea’s Ri Jong Myong in the bronze medal bout on 9 August 2012. The sport of wrestling became cynosure of all eyes after Yogeshwar and Sushil’s twin medal at the London Olympics.
3) Narsingh Yadav: 2015 Las Vegas World Championships Silver
In one of the greatest display of Indian wrestling on the foreign shores in 2015 Narsingh Yadav won India a bronze medal at the world championships in Las Vegas. Yadav was down 4-12 against Zelimkhan Khadjiev of France till last 1 minute in the bronze medal play-off and made a stunning comeback to pin down his opponent to win world medal for the country. His victory lost little sheen when he was sanctioned for doping violation just 1 month before the Rio Olympics 2016.
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4) Sakshi Malik: 2016 Rio Olympics Bronze
Sakshi Malik became toast of the nation as she ended India’s barren run at the Rio Olympics 2016 to clinch bronze in the women’s wrestling. She became the first Indian woman wrestler to achieve the feat. Defying all odds and showing killer instincts, Sakshi won the medal for the country.
5) Vinesh Phogat: 2018 Asian Games Gold
Vinesh Phogat defeated Yuki Irie of Japan to win 50kg freestyle gold at 2018 Asian games. With this victory the Indian Iron lady created history as she became the first woman wrestling gold medal winner for the country.
6) Bajrang Punia: 2018 Asian Games Bronze
No Indian wrestler has shown such domination at this stage what Bajrang Punia showed during his show at the Asian Games 2018. The Indian from the first round till the finals won all his bouts by technical superiority to win the gold medal for the country. He defeated Japan’s Takatani Daichi in a hard fought bout by 11-8 in gold medal bout and conveyed to the world that the Indian wrestling is emerging superpower of the world.
7) Bajrang Punia: 2018 World Championships Silver
This is by far one of the best performance by a Indian at a global stage of the world championships. Bajrang entered the finals of the world championships to win silver medal in 2018 and for the first time became world number 1 wrestler in the UWW rankings in 65kg weight category.
8) Pooja Dhanda: 2018 World Championships Bronze
Pooja Dhanda did what once Geeta and Babita Phogat did in 2012 world championships. She became the first woman for India in 6 years to win a world championship medal in Budapest 2018. Pooja won a bronze by defeating European Champion Grace Bullen in 57kg bronze medal play off
9) Deepak Punia: 2019 World Championships Silver MEDAL & World No 1 rank
He is just 18 year old but he won not only Junior World Championship gold in 2019 but also is ranked as number 1 wrestler in the UWW rankings for seniors in the 86kg category. Deepak Punia’s show at the Senior World Championships is without any doubt one of the biggest highlight for the Indian wrestling in this decade. Punia won historic silver medal at the world championships in 2019.
10) Vinesh Phogat: 2019 World Championships Bronze
What Pooja Dhanda did in 2018 world championship Vinesh Phogat repeated in 2019 by winning bronze but with a little twist. Phogat defeated 3 former world medallists to not only win the world bronze this year but also qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. This is being hailed as one of the most gutsy performance by the Indian women wrestler in the entire history of the Indian wrestling.
