The Phogat Sisters: Pioneers of women’s wrestling in India
The Phogat sisters have been pioneering women's wrestling legacy in India. Phogat sisters - Geeta, Babita, Ritu, Priyanka and Vinesh (all wrestlers) hail from Haryana's Balali village.
Photo Credits: Instagram/geetaphogat
Geeta and Babita Phogat were the first two among the Phogat sisters to gain widespread popularity in women's wrestling. Geeta Phogat made history at the Commonwealth Games in 2010 by winning a gold medal in the women's 55kg category.
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Geeta's younger sister Babita Phogat won silver in the 51kg category at the Commonwealth Games.
Photo Credits: Instagram/babitaphogatofficial
Geeta Phogat became the first woman wrestler to qualify for the summer Olympics, competing in the 55kg category at London 2012.
Photo Credits: Instagram/geetaphogat
Geeta won her first world championship medal (bronze) in the 55kg, whereas Babita won bronze in the 51kg category.
Photo Credits: Instagram/geetaphogat
Babita won the 55kg gold at the Commonwealth Games 2014, and silver at the 2018 edition in the 53kg. She later joined politics in 2019 but continued to be a professional wrestler.
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Ritu Phogat, a former wrestler won gold at the Commonwealth Championships 2016 and bronze at the Asian Championships 2017. The wrestler then shifted her focus to mixed martial arts.
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Youngest sister Sangeeta Phogat won a bronze medal in 59kg in the Polyák Imre & Varga János Memorial Ranking Series wrestling championship in Budapest, Hungary.
Photo Credits: Instagram/sangeetaphogat57
Vinesh Phogat won a silver medal at the World Youth Championships in 51kg and then won bronze in 2013 Asian Championships.
Photo Credits: HT File Photo
Vinesh rose to fame at the 2014 Commonwealth Games by winning a gold medal in the 48kg category and then clinched bronze at the Asian Games.
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Vinesh won a medal at each edition of the Asian Championships since 2015 and won gold at the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games in 2018.
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Vinesh won her first world championships medal (bronze) in 2019 in the 53kg and qualified for Tokyo 2020. She then rose to world No.1 at the Tokyo but lost in quarter-finals.
Photo Credits: HT File Photo
Qualifying for Paris Olympics 2024 finals, Vinesh was later disqualified for being "overweight" than 50kg.
Photo Credits: HT File Photo
Vinesh's younger sister Priyanka Phogat also won silver at the 2016 Asian championships.