Almost four days after Panipat lad Sagar Jaglan won the gold at the World Cadet Wrestling Championship in Budapest, Hungary, 16-year-old Komal of Patti Kalyana village of the district clinched the top medal in the women’s category.
Komal defeated Ruzanna Mammadova of Azerbaijan in the final of 46 kg category, while Sagar outclassed James Mockler Rowley 4-0 in the 80 kg final.
The news of their victories came as a surprise to their families and they were overjoyed on their success as media persons and their relatives made a beeline to their residences.
As per the information collected from their villages, Komal comes from a middle-class family. Her father, Satish Kumar, is a farmer and her mother Kusum is a mid-day meal worker in a government school.
“I cannot explain this in words. But I can say that my daughter has done an extraordinary thing by winning the gold medal,” her father said.
He also appreciated the efforts of her coach Vinod Kumar and said, “A player cannot win without a good coach, and this is the victory of both Komal and her coach”.
Komal, a class 12 student of her village’s government school took basic coaching from Baba Gyan Ram Akhara in her village. “Komal is a very talented girl and she will bring more medals for the country in the future,” Vinod Kumar said.
{{/usCountry}}Komal, a class 12 student of her village’s government school took basic coaching from Baba Gyan Ram Akhara in her village. “Komal is a very talented girl and she will bring more medals for the country in the future,” Vinod Kumar said.
{{/usCountry}}Komal had also won gold medals at the World Championship in Japan in 2016 and the World Junior Cadet Wrestling Championship in 2019. She was U15 Asian Champion in 2018.
On Monday, Komal was given a rousing welcome when she reached her village and the residents of Patti Kalayana village celebrated her victory on her arrival.
Celebrations were in full swing at the residence of 17-year-old Sagar Jaglan in Panipat. Sagar’s family belongs to Naultha village and now live in Panipat. Sagar’s father, Mukesh, said he was taking coaching since he was 10 and this was his big achievement.
Mukesh, who works at a private company in Sonepat, said that he and his father Randev were had interested in wrestling and this helped Sagar in cultivating an interest in wrestling as a career option. He also praised his son’s coach Ashwani Dahiya.
The father said that this is Sagar’s second medal at the international level, previously, he had won a gold medal at the Asian championships in Taiwan in the U-15 category in 2019.