Sakshi Malik/ Sakshee Malikkh
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Who is Sakshi Malik?
Image credit: Jack Guez / AFP
Image credit: Jack Guez / AFP
Sakshi Malik: From Rohtak to Rio The Hindu
Weight: 64 kg
Height: 1.62 metres
Born on September 3, 1992, in Rohtak, Haryana, Sakshi Malik has her supportive parents, Sudesh and Sukhbir, to thank for encouraging her in her unusual career choice.
The 23-year-old from Mokhra village began her training in wrestling as a 12-year-old under the guidance of Ishwar Dahiya at an akhara in the Chotu Ram stadium. Her grooming was helped along by having to fight a lot of boys, in a region where the sport was ‘not for girls’. In fact, Dahiya faced protests from locals when he took Sakshi under his wing.
The run-up to Rio
2010: By the age of 18, she had tasted victory at junior-level competitions. She won a Bronze at the 2010 Junior World Championships in the 59-kg category.
2014: She first came to the international limelight after taking home the Gold at the Dave Schultz International Wrestling Tournament (60-kg).
July-August 2014: Her professional international career began with a silver medal in the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, courtesy two 4-0 bouts.
2014 bronze medal at Incheon Asian Games
September 2014: She crashed out in the Quarterfinal at the World Wrestling Championships in Tashkent. But not before beating her Senegalese opponent 4-1 in the Round of 16.
May 2015: Then on to the Senior Asian Wrestling Championships in Doha, where she won the Bronze.
On that victory, she said:
“My silver at the 2014 Commonwealth Games is my personal favourite. Although I displayed some aggressive wrestling at the 2015 Asian Championships and clinched a bronze, my bout at Glasgow was more challenging.”
Wasn't The First Choice In 58-Kg
Biswajyoti Brahma The Times of India
India's first medallist in Rio, Sakshi Malik, wasn't even the original choice to represent the country in the newly-introduced 58kg freestyle wrestling category for the Rio Olympics. In fact it was Geeta Phogat -her `didi', and the poster girl of Indian women's wrestling -who was the first choice, considering her experience and success at the highest level. But a twist in the tale helped the till-now unsung Sakshi to make it to the Olympics and script a heart-warming success story . Geeta, who is from the first family of women's wrestling's and is now the subject of a soon-to-bereleased Bollywood film, was the first Indian female wrestler to qualify for the Olympics at the London Games in 2012, in the 55kg category. She was also the first woman from India to win a gold medal in the Commonwealth Games in Delhi in 2010. s in Delhi in 2010.
Understandably then, she was the Wrestling Federation of India's (WFI) first and only choice for Rio in the new 58 kg category, since a country can only end one wrestler for one weight category.However, during the first Olympic qualification tournament in Ulan Bator in April, Geeta was slated to fight in the repechage event but pulled out at the last minute citing injury concerns. It irked the WFI so much so it imposed a temporary ban on Geeta.
Only four months before the Ulan Bator incident, in Dec 2015, Sakshi created a flutter in wrestling circles by upsetting her more fancied rival in the Pro-Wrestling League. Nobody had expected it, but her win over Geeta affirmed WFI's believe that they had a dependable back-up. So after the Ulan Bator incident, WFI acted swiftly by asking Sakshi to be ready for the second and final qualification in Turkey in May . Sakshi grabbed the chance with both hands and secured the quota for the Games.
It's ironic that four years back, during the London Olympics, Geeta too was in the reckoning for a bronze medal. That time, she lost her repechage round bout.
Following that, Sakshi booked her seat on the flight to Rio by winning Bronze in the Summer Olympics Qualifiers, defeating Chinese Lan Zhang in the semifinal, at Istanbul.
July 2016: She won 60-kg Bronze at the Spanish Grand Prix.
Sakshi was one of three female wrestlers to qualify for the Rio Olympics, all three hailing from the north Indian state, Haryana
Relationship status
Sakshi Malik is engaged to her wrestler boyfriend Satyawart Kadian. (The Times of India, Oct 17, 2016)
Growing up in Haryana
Sakshi tried playing kabaddi and cricket in her childhood but wrestling became her favourite sport after she started "winning bouts".
"I never knew what an Olympics was, I wanted to become a sportsperson to travel in an aeroplane. If you can represent India, you can board a plane, and fly," Sakshi told PTI.
Interestingly, her elder brother was named after cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar.
Sachin, who's two-years older to her, would ask Sakshi to play cricket, but she would often say 'no' and would stare at the sky with aeroplanes flying high. Her family always supported her to pursue her dream.
"Parents never forced me, they supported me well in wrestling," Sakshi said.
TNN The Times of India and AFP | Aug 18, 2016 add: Sakshi had recalled in an interview some of the instances when villagers had sniggered and pointed fingers when she wrestled with boys or wore shorts in a state where women are usually covered head-to-toe and confined to their homes.
Why she chose wrestling
She was 12 when she told her parents she wanted to be a wrestler. She was inspired by the photograph of a school senior in the local newspaper.There was no history of wrestling in the family but her parents -government servants posted in Rohtak -took Sakshi to a coach at a stadium nearby .
“Some relatives weren't convinced, saying that girls shouldn't wrestle, but my family backed me,“ she said. It must not have been easy in a state where the girl child often fights lonely battles with the system. As Sakshi moved up the ranks, her dreams started to grow bigger. “I was motivated by Sushil and Yogeshwar's medals. I got the belief that Indians could do it. Of course, no girl had won a wrestling medal.“
“When we went to Bulgaria recently, there was indeed a Phogat against every name. I was the only Malik,“ she laughed. “But I have been inspired by Geeta didi and her achievements. The Phogat sisters are very good friends.“ Alok Sinha The Times of India Aug 19 2016
According to Sakshi, locals used to berate her parents when she was growing up, warning them that their daughter would develop puffed-out cauliflower ears, common among wrestlers, and become undesirable to potential husbands. "It hurt a little and I wondered why people said such mean things, especially when I was so young, and made me doubt myself," she had said.
Like the renowned Phogats - Geeta, Babita and Vinesh+ - Sakshi became a local celebrity after winning silver at the 2014 Commonwealth Games. "It's so weird to see how people can change so suddenly, how they take interest in me now that I'm rising to the top, yet didn't support me when I was starting out," she once commented of villagers flocking to take selfies and feed her sweets.
Indian Express adds: Sakshi Malik had lived in Geeta Phogat’s shadow from most of her career so far. But she finally got her chance to prove in Olympic qualifying event in Istanbul where she defeated a former world champion to qualifying for Rio. A multiple national champion, Sakshi had to fight boys early in her career and face social issues with women not allowed to participate in wrestling in Haryana. She took up wrestling in 2002 under coach Ishwar Dahiya and since then has won several tournaments including gold medals in national tournaments
Pressures to avoid wrestling
Aug 19 2016 : Hindol Basu The Times of India (Delhi)
Education Was The Priority For Family But Wrestler Was Adamant To Pursue Kushti
When Sakshi Malik showed an affinity towards wrestling and wanted to pursue the sport professionally , her mother Sudesh Malik said: Kushti mardo ka khel hain (Wrestling is a man's sport). Sudesh Malik wanted her daughter to play kho-kho or athletics games that according to Sakshi's mother won't spoil her face.
“I wanted her to do well in studies.When she was young and had just started liking wrestling, I told her to leave the sport for good. Sakshi bahut ziddi hai, wo nahi maani (Sakshi is very stubborn, she didn't agree with me).
“She told me `Mama mai kushti mein bhi acchi karungi aur padhai mein bhi avval aaoongi (Mom, I will do well in both wrestling and studies.Don't worry .).' And believe me she has done really well in both fields so far,“ says Sakshi's mother.
“I used to try and coax Sakshi to leave wrestling by saying Padhoge likhoge to banoge nawab, kheloge kudoge to ho jaoge kharab. But now see who is on top of the world.“
Sakshi must be one of the most qualified among the Indian wrestlers.She has completed her Masters in Physical Education (MPed) from the Maharishi Dayanand University (MDU), Rohtak.
Sakshi's father -Sukhbir Malik is a conductor with Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) and daily travels to and fro from Rohtak to the national capital. Her mother is a homemaker.She has a brother Sachin Malik who is an engineer and has also completed his MBA from MDU, Rohtak. At present, Sachin runs a franchisee of a global fast food outlet in Rohtak.
Sakshi's uncle and Sukhbir Malik's elder brother, Satbir Malik is a retired school teacher. One of Satbir's daughters Swati has completed her MPharma, while the other Ritu is a computer science engineer from BITS, Bhiwani.
In an environment like this, sports was evidently not on top of the priority list. Education was! But Sakshi's grandfather Chaudhary Badlu Ram was a village-level wrestler. He, however, kept his participation limited to the local dangals, never taking to professional wrestling.“In our family , only my father has ever entered the akhara (wrestling mud pit).Our focus was on getting better education. We never thought of taking up a sport,“ Sakshi's father Sukhbir Malik says. Standing next to him, elder brother Satbir endorses with a nod of his head.
“May be Sakshi has got the genes of his paternal grandfather. That's why despite not having any environment for sports in our family , she was a natural to kushti,“ Satbir adds.
Sakshi used to outclass boys in training
Hindol Basu The Times of India
Ishwar Singh Dahiya, a 12-time Bharat Kesari champion and someone who has coached former international women wrestlers Suman Kundu, Sunita and Kavita (all Rohtak-based grapplers) took Sakshi under his wings as a 12-year-old. “The first day Sakshi came to the academy, she was a little stout. But after a few conversations with her, I understood that she had tremendous fire in her belly. Woh kehte hai na poot ke paon paalne mein hi nazar aa jaate hai (a special tal ent shows signs very early) and I could feel she was out standing.
“So I started training her. After the first month of training Sakshi, I knew she had the ability to succeed at the international level,“ a beaming Ishwar Singh says.
After a few months of training, Sakshi was made to practice and fight with the boys.“The young girls, who used to train along with Sakshi, often used to complain that she left them with broken bones. After a while, the parents of those young girls complained to me about the same.
“Then I was compelled to shift Sakshi with the boys. She outclassed the girls so much, that I thought it was important to test her in tougher waters.But quite amazingly, Sakshi made the boys struggle.“
Mid-career frustrations—and progression
PTI | Aug 18, 2016: The toughest phase for Sakshi was when she "struggled" to win a silver at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow 2014, a lesson that had helped her in winning bronze in Rio.
"Everyone was getting medals. Such was the pressure that I thought it would be difficult to return home without a medal. I was under much less pressure here. Haar gaye toh kya ho jayega, lekin jeet gaye toh kya ho jayega... I just had a free mind. I did not fight with pressure, and it helped."
"It felt strange. Like in the camp for Bulgaria and Spain, there were all Phogats and I was the only Malik in between them. But I did not mind... It was Geeta didi who showed us the way in 2012," she says about Geeta Phogat's path-breaking Olympic qualification in London 2012.
"Geeta didi won medals for India and I got inspired and gradually I started winning," she said.
Sakshi's first international success came when she won a bronze at the 2010 Junior World Championships in the 59kg category.
Four years later, Sakshi won a gold at the Dave Schultz International Wrestling Tournament in 60kg and the biggest moment of her career came at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games in 2014 where she won a silver medal.
"When I had returned home after winning the Commonwealth Games medal, everyone was after me and I could not sleep well.
"Every time I fell sleep, my brother or mother would tell me 'get up, you've to give interviews, people are waiting'. But I enjoy it, not everyone get a chance of this type," she admits.
Two months later, Sakshi crashed out in the World Wrestling Championships quarterfinals in Tashkent finishing a poor eighth. But she again came into reckoning by winning a bronze at the Asian Championships in Doha 2015.
It was only in May 2016 that Sakshi qualified for the Rio Olympics after making the final of the Olympic Qualifiers in Istanbul where she lost the final to Russian Valeria Koblova.
It was only after she made the cut Sakshi was included in the Target Olympic Podium scheme as she did some training in Bulgaria and Spain.
Workouts and diet
A daily routine in Sakshi's life would be 500 sit-ups and intensive training but at the moment the training can stop and she said she would love to gorge on her favourite aloo parantha and kadhi chawal.
"It feels like I've not eaten aloo parantha, kadhi chawal for ages now. I was mostly on a liquid, carb-free diet," she said.
The person
Sakshi tells you that she is not aggressive at all off the mat. “I hate crowds. I don't like parties, visiting malls and watching films. I am a very private person.I always seek shanti (peace).“
She tells you that she is not into social media like girls her age either. “My Facebook account is handled by my elder brother Sachin. I send him photos and he uploads them,“ she smiles. Alok Sinha The Times of India Aug 19 2016
Sakshi is not into movies or chilling out with friends. For her, it's about sleep and spend some quiet time at home, maybe watching TV.
"I just want to lead a peaceful life. I don't like to travel around or going out for movies. I want a job where I can be at peace. I've achieved all this because of my struggle for 12 years. Peace is all what I need, that's enjoyment for me."
2016: The historic bronze medal
Highlights
• Sakshi is the first female wrestler from India to win an Olympic medal
• It's India's first medal at Rio Olympics.
• Sakshi was the fourth female sportsperson from India to win an Olympic medal
Sakshi’s journey to the medal
The 23-year-old went through five gruelling matches in one day to open India's medal account in Rio in her bronze medal match.
Making a strong comeback from a 0-4 down, Sakshi defeated Sweden's Malin Johanna Mattsson 5-4 in the qualification round She was down 0-4 after the first period but quickly made amends in the second period. Sakshi managed to pull two points back before pushing her rival out of the mat to grab another point. With just 10 seconds remaining, Sakshi desperately needed one more point to post a win and she held her nerves as she took down the Swedish girl in those dying moments to post a narrow victory.
In the pre-quarters, Sakshi once again eked out a narrow 5-5 win over Mariana Cherdivara Esanu of Republic of Moldova In the opening period of the pre-quarterfinal bout, Sakshi got 30 seconds to earn points but she failed and that gave Cherdivara a point. The girl from Moldova then put Sakshi down on the mat to gain another two points and lead 3-0 at the break. In the second period, the Indian failed to take advantage of the 30 seconds she got and handed Cherdivara another point. Sakshi then came back strongly to post a double take down, which earned her four crucial points at one go and helped her surge ahead to a 5-3 lead. Although Cherdivara, with her own take-down, gained two points to make the scores level at 5-5 with just 19 seconds left on the clock, the Indian was declared winner on bigger points gain.
She lost 2-9 in the quarter-finals to Russia's Valeriia Koblova in the fifth bout of the day, before getting a second chance in repechage when her conqueror reached the final. Having conceded one point in the first period of her quarterfinal fight because of passivity, Sakshi did well to earn two points in the second period after taking-down the Russian girl. But Koblova, with enormous strength, hit back almost immediately to pocket four points and then gained another two to open up a 7-2 lead. The Russian then closed the door on Sakshi by bagging another two points to win the bout and make the semifinals. In the first two rounds, Sakshi came back from behind to register impressive wins.
Sakshi stormed into the bronze medal play-off round with a dominating performance in her repechage round, where she thrashed Purevdorjiin Orkhon of Mongolia 12-3. Both the wrestlers matched each other in the first period and the scores were 2-2 at the break. But Sakshi gave a more aggressive account of herself in the second period, pinning down her opponent from time to time, besides flipping her over for crucial points. Starting with a double-leg take down to earn two points, she added two more crucial points to her kitty to lead 6-3 with a minute left. In the last one minute, she kept attacking and gained four more points. In fact, Sakshi earned as many as 10 points compared to just one by the Mongolian in the second period to seal off the issue in style.
As Sakshi had reached the quarterfinals, she needed to fight only one repechage round as compared to the other two opponents of the Russian girl, whom she had beaten in the earlier two rounds - pre-quarters and qualification.
Koblova had beaten Luisa Niemesch of Germany in the qualification round before defeating Mongolia's Orkhon in the pre-quarterfinals.
Therefore, in the first repechage round, these two grapplers from Germany and Mongolia faced each other. And the winner of that bout (Mongolian girl) then took on Sakshi in repechage round 2 for a place in the bronze medal play-off.
Sakshi had to get the better of the Mongolian grappler in the repechage round 2 and she did just that to advance to the bronze medal play off.
HOW SAKSHI WON VIA REPECHAGE
Sakshi lost to Russia's Valeriia Koblova Zholobova in the quarterfinal.But since Valeriia advanced to the final, Sakshi was eligible for repechage. Under the repechage rules, the wrestlers who lose to the eventual finalists fight it out for the bronze. Since Sakshi had progressed to the quarterfinal, she was first challenged by Orkhon Purevdorj, who was beaten by Valeriia in the pre-qaurterfinal. In her bronze medal match, Sakshi met Aisuluu Tynybekova, who had lost against the Russian in the semifinals.
The bout for the bronze medal
Gritty wrestler Sakshi Malik ended India's painful wait for a medal at the Rio Olympic Games by clinching the bronze in the 58kg category, pulling off a sensational 8-5 victory over Aisuluu Tynybekova of Kyrgyzstan in the play-off bout, here.
The 23-year-old from Rohtak became only the fourth woman athlete from India to win an Olympic medal as she earned the dramatic win after falling behind 0-5 in the do-or-die bout on day 12.
Weightlifter Karnam Malleshwari (2000, Sydney), boxer MC Mary Kom (2012, London) and shuttler Saina Nehwal (2012, London) were the only other women athletes from India to have won a medal in Olympics.
Like in three of the four other bouts earlier in the day, Sakshi won the crucial bout after coming from behind. She, in fact, had lost 2-9 in the quarter-finals to Russia's Valeriia Koblova in the fifth bout of the day before getting a second chance in repechage when her conqueror reached the final.
Sakshi turned the tables on the Kyrgyzstan wrestler in the dying seconds of the bout as Tynybekova was in complete command in most part of the clash.
Tynybekova grabbed Sakshi's leg and quickly earned two points before adding one more for the Indian's passivity.
She repeated her move and successfully bagged two more points to lead 5-0 at the break.
Sakshi could open the scoring only in the second period and got two points after throwing her rival down and out of the mat. She then managed to earn two points again with a similar move to bring down the margin to 4-5.
Thereafter, it was no looking back for the Indian girl and she took the opponent down to level the scores 5-5. But she did not stop there and gained three more points by pinning down the Kyrgyzstan wrestler in the dying moments of the match.
In the bronze play-off too Sakshi's winning move that got her two points initially was challenged by her Kyrgyztan rival and it was reviewed and she was awarded an extra point by the judges much to her rival's chagrin.
Sakshi: On winning the medal
Sanjeev Kumar | Navbharat Times | Aug 18, 2016
Sakshi dedicated her bronze medal to her fellow wrestler Vinesh, who had been injured terribly only a few hours before, and to the country.
After winning India's first medal at the Rio Olympics, Sakshi Malik said it was the result of her 12 years of hard work.
i) "Meri 12 saal ki tapasya safal hui (My 12 years' of hard work have borne fruit)".
ii) "Aakhir tak dimagh mein tha medal téra hai (till the last moment, my heart said the medal was mine)," an elated Sakshi told Sanjeev Kumar | Navbharat Times after the medal ceremony.
She said she was pretty sure of winning a medal at Rio Olympics if she practised and played continuously for six months. "Six months khel le medal tera hai".
"I know my life has changed now. I'm not able to see it now but I think after I return home it will be different life altogether. Din raat ka change hone wala hai (The difference will be like between day and night)," she said.
"I just want to lead a peaceful life. I don't like to travel around or going out for movies. I want a job where I can be at peace. I've achieved all this because of my struggle for 12 years. Peace is all what I need, that's enjoyment for me."
Ask her whom she would first give the prized medal after she lands in New Delhi, and Sakshi is no high-flying in her reply: "This medal is for everyone in my country. This medal belongs to you, whoever it is... I will say, see 'I've made it'." (PTI)
Ranked fourth in the world
Sep 13 2016 , Sakshi Malik entered the top-five in the UWW (United World Wrestling) rankings, rising to a career-best 4th position in women's 58kg category.
This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content. |
2018
As in July 2018
August 18, 2018: The Times of India
Rio Olympics bronze medallist isn’t in to form, having managed a lowly third-place finish in Gold Coast. At this year’s Asian championships, Sakshi had to settle for another bronze. Her weight category will be dominated by the reigning world champion, Mongolia’s Purevdorjiin Orkhon.
See also
The Olympics: India (1900-2016)
