Geetika Jakhar (born 18 August 1985) is an Indian wrestler. Geetika comes from a family of sportspersons. She got Arjuna Award - 2006. She is the only women wrestler in the history of Indian sports to be judged the Best Wrestler of the 2005 Commonwealth Games and also who won medals at Asian Games 2006 and 2014 respectively. Geetika is the first woman wrestler being awarded with the Arjuna Award by Government of India in 2006. She is also a proud recipient of Bhim Award by government of Haryana. For her extraordinary achievements in the field of sports, the government of Haryana has appointed her to the post of Deputy Superintendent of Police in 2008.[10]

Geetika Jakhar
Geetika Jakhar in August 2007
Personal information
NationalityIndian
BornAgroha, Haryana, India[1]
Height159 cm (5 ft 3 in)[2]
Weight63 Kg
Sport
CountryIndia
SportFreestyle wrestling
Event63 kg
Medal record
Representing  India
Commonwealth Games
Silver medal – second place 2014 Glasgow 63 kg
Asian Games
Silver medal – second place 2006 Doha 63 kg
Bronze medal – third place 2014 Incheon 63 kg
Asian Wrestling Championships
Silver medal – second place 2003 Delhi 63 kg
Silver medal – second place 2005 Wuhan 63 kg
Bronze medal – third place 2013 Delhi 63 kg
Commonwealth Wrestling Championship
Gold medal – first place 2003 London[3] 63 kg
Gold medal – first place 2005 Cape Town[4] 63 kg
Silver medal – second place 2007 Ontario[5] 63 kg
World Police and Fire Games
Silver medal – second place 2019 Chengdu 69 kg[6]
World Junior Wrestling Championships
Silver medal – second place 2005 Vilnius[7] 63 kg
Asian Junior Wrestling Championships
Gold medal – first place 2004 Almaty[8] 67 kg
Silver medal – second place 2005 Jeju Island[9] 63 kg

Personal life and family edit

Geetika's father Satyavir Singh Jakhar was the sports officer in Hisar, Haryana. She was inspired to take up wrestling by her grand father, Ch. Amar Chand Jakhar, an accomplished wrestler himself. She started wrestling at the tender age of 13, and was awarded the Bharat Kesari at the age of 15 by beating Sonika Kaliraman (daughter of renowned wrestler Chandgi Ram) the then bharat kesari in a Dangal held at New Delhi in 2000. She won the Bharat Kesari title for a consecutive 9 years from then on. She is married to Mr. Kamaldeep Singh Rana, who is working in Haryana public work department as an Executive Engineer.[citation needed]

Early career edit

Geetika was actively participating in sports at a school level with her focus being athletics. But the turning point came when her family moved from her native village Agroha to Hisar to provide a better education for her younger brother and her. In an attempt to competitively pursue athletics, her father had taken her to the Mahabir Stadium in Hisar but they returned disappointed without finding any coach. During this she went to the nearby wrestling hall hearing huge voice coming from hall as coaches guide their ward from outside of the mat with a loud voice, young Geetika was drawn to other girls practicing wrestling. She immediately fell in love with the sport and from October 1998, she chose wrestling as her sport, leaving athletics. It took her four months after discovering wrestling when she represented Haryana at the 1999 National Games in Manipur and finished fourth.[citation needed]

She became the youngest wrestler to win a gold medal in all editions of the 2001 National Championships: Sub-Junior, Junior and Senior - an admirable record that has yet to be broken. By this she completed her GOLDEN QUARTET.

1999 edit

  • Participated as youngest wrestler in National Games Imphal (Manipur) at the age of 13 in 56 kg women freestyle and stood fourth.
  • Gold Medal at Haryana State Games held at Bhiwani; declared Best Women Wrestler of Haryana.

2000 edit

2001 edit

  • Gold Medal at Sub -Junior National Championship.
  • Gold Medal at Junior National Championship.
  • Gold Medal at Senior National Championship, Nedani, Haryana
  • Gold Medal at National Games, Ludhiana, Punjab

Completed Golden Quartet lone wrestler to do so.

International career edit

Her international career began with her first appearance at the 2002 World Wrestling Championships in New York, USA.

2002 edit

2003 edit

2005 edit

  • Silver Medal at Senior Asian Championship, China.
  • Gold Medal at Commonwealth Championship; declared best wrestler of the tournament, first Indian women wrestler to get "Best Wrestler of Commonwealth Games" title.
  • Silver Medal at World Championships held at Lithuania.

2006 edit

  • Silver Medal at the Asian Games, Doha, Qatar biggest medal in wrestling at Asian games and 1st medal by Indian women wrestler.

2007 edit

  • Silver Medal at Commonwealth Championship, Ontario, Canada.
  • Gold Medal at Senior National Championship.
  • Gold Medal at National Games, Guwahati, Assam
  • Participated in Senior Asian Championships, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan[11]

2012 edit

  • Gold Medal at Senior National Championship.

2013 edit

2014 edit

Awards and honours edit

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "GEETIKA JAKHAR - BIOGRAPHY". Commonwealth Games Federation. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
  2. ^ "Jakhar, Geetika (IND)". Institut für Angewandte Trainingswissenschaft (IAT). Retrieved 3 June 2016.
  3. ^ "2003 Commonwealth Wrestling Championships - London, Ontario, Canada ARTICLES & RESULTS". Commonwealth Amateur Wrestling Association (CAWA). Archived from the original on 23 October 2013. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
  4. ^ "Indian grapplers sweep gold in Commonwealth Championship". Zee News. 2 July 2005. Archived from the original on 27 November 2016. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  5. ^ "2007 - Commonwealth Wrestling Championships - Information & RESULTS". Commonwealth Amateur Wrestling Association (CAWA). Archived from the original on 23 October 2013. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
  6. ^ "Haryana Police inspector bags gold in World Police Games". Business Standard. Asian News International (ANI). 21 August 2019. Archived from the original on 17 November 2019. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
  7. ^ "Haryana grapplers strike gold in SA". The Tribune. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
  8. ^ "India wins four medals". The Hindu. 23 June 2004. Archived from the original on 10 March 2016. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
  9. ^ "Indian wrestlers win 10 medals". The Hindu. 13 June 2005. Archived from the original on 10 March 2016. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
  10. ^ Geetika Jakhar. glasgow2014.com
  11. ^ "International Wrestling Database". www.iat.uni-leipzig.de. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
  12. ^ "Glasgow 2014 - Geetika Jakhar Profile". g2014results.thecgf.com. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
  13. ^ "Sports Information". incheon2014ag.org (via Wayback Machine). Olympic Council of Asia. Archived from the original on 4 October 2014. Retrieved 10 March 2016.

External links edit