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 in August 2007 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nationality | Indian | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | Agroha, Haryana, India[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 159 cm (5 ft 3 in)[2] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 63 Kg | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country | India | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Freestyle wrestling | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Event | 63 kg | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Personal life and family
editGeetika'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
editGeetika 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- Gold Medal at Sub -Junior National championship, Talkatora Stadium, New Delhi.
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
editHer international career began with her first appearance at the 2002 World Wrestling Championships in New York, USA.
2002
edit- Participated in World Championships, New York, USA where she reached to quarter-finals .
- Gold Medal at National Games, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh
- Gold Medal at Senior National Championship.
2003
edit- Participated in World Championships, ATHENS, GREECE where she reached quarterfinals.
- Silver Medal at Senior Asian Championship, New DelhiIndia.
- Gold Medal at Commonwealth Championship; LondonCanada.
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- Bronze Medal at Senior Asian Championship, New Delhi, India
2014
edit- Silver Medal at the Commonwealth Games, Glasgow, Scotland.[12]
- Bronze Medal at the Asian Games, Incheon, South Korea[13]
Awards and honours
edit- Bhim Award, 2003 - given to outstanding athletes from the state of Haryana, India
- Arjuna Award - 2006
- Kalpana Chawla Excellence award for Outstanding Women, 2009.
- Face of Beti Bachao Beti Padhao in Haryana.
- Brand Ambassador of Digital Cashless Week (20-27 Feb 2017) in Hisar, Haryana.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "GEETIKA JAKHAR - BIOGRAPHY". Commonwealth Games Federation. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
- ^ "Jakhar, Geetika (IND)". Institut für Angewandte Trainingswissenschaft (IAT). Retrieved 3 June 2016.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Indian grapplers sweep gold in Commonwealth Championship". Zee News. 2 July 2005. Archived from the original on 27 November 2016. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
- ^ "2007 - Commonwealth Wrestling Championships - Information & RESULTS". Commonwealth Amateur Wrestling Association (CAWA). Archived from the original on 23 October 2013. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Haryana grapplers strike gold in SA". The Tribune. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
- ^ "India wins four medals". The Hindu. 23 June 2004. Archived from the original on 10 March 2016. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
- ^ "Indian wrestlers win 10 medals". The Hindu. 13 June 2005. Archived from the original on 10 March 2016. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
- ^ Geetika Jakhar. glasgow2014.com
- ^ "International Wrestling Database". www.iat.uni-leipzig.de. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
- ^ "Glasgow 2014 - Geetika Jakhar Profile". g2014results.thecgf.com. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
- ^ "Sports Information". incheon2014ag.org (via Wayback Machine). Olympic Council of Asia. Archived from the original on 4 October 2014. Retrieved 10 March 2016.