‘Had Just One Chance To Prove Myself’: Navjot Kaur, 1st Indian Women To Win Asian Wrestling Gold

The 28-year-old wrestler from Punjab clinched the gold medal in the 65kg category after hammering Japan's Miya Imai with a massive score of 9-1

By: Aakash Biswas |
March 3, 2018 12:41 pm

Indian women wrestler Navjot Kaur made her country proud and scripted history at the Asian Championship in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan on March 2. While India was busy in celebrating the festival of colours, the 28-year-old wrestler from Punjab clinched the gold medal in the 65kg category after hammering Japan’s Miya Imai with a massive score of 9-1. This victory made her the first Indian woman to win a gold at the Senior Asian Wrestling Championships.

Navjot’s journey in this championship was nothing short of a Hindi movie script. In 2013, she had lost the final and 5 years later, she was again at the same place. Moreover, after defeating Imai previously in the group stages, facing her again in the finals would have been enough to put any champion under pressure.

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But instead of getting pressurised, she decided to make the most of her chance. She went into the ring, earned 4-point throws on counters and beat her Japanese opponent by 9-1; making a grand entry into the record books.

According to several media reports, Navjot termed this day as the “best day of her life since she started wrestling”.

“This pressure was something that every athlete was having at the Asian Championships. But I decided, No, I will compete without pressure. I have just one chance to prove myself. Now I have won and I’m proud to become the first woman from India to win a gold at the Asian Championships,” the official world wrestling website quoted Navjot as saying.

Navjot thanked her coaches for their immense support. She said,

“At the national camp, I was supported and motivated by the whole team, including the coaches and the medical staff. I was a bit nervous but confident too. I was encouraged too: ‘No, you can do it, you can beat Japan, it’s not something that you can’t achieve.”

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Right after her victory, she took a victory lap on the shoulder of her two coaches. Meanwhile, people on Twitter erupted in joy and wished the Indian lady wrestler who made her nation proud. Here are some of the tweets:

T 2731 – #NavjotKaur first woman from India to win Gold in Asian Wrestling Championships .. Amazing ! many congratulations .. India Booming all over .. JAI HIND !!! pic.twitter.com/O1ff0MdkjV

— Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) March 2, 2018

Proud of our Girls!
Our hearty congratulations to Navjot Kaur for becoming the FIRST Indian woman to strike #Gold at the #AsianWrestlingChampionships!
HISTORY CREATED!! Bravo! pic.twitter.com/Gn39IWw0Mi

— DoC (@DoC_GoI) March 3, 2018

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Congratulation #NavjotKaur on winning gold for #India in #AsianWrestlingChampionship Congrats to @SakshiMalik on winning bronze. We are proud of you.

— Rajat Sharma (@RajatSharmaLive) March 2, 2018

#NavjotKaur making India proud
Let’s congratulate her pic.twitter.com/m1ArfTSfN2

— Guru Randhawa (@GuruOfficial) March 2, 2018

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Heartiest Congratulations to #NavjotKaur on becoming the first Indian women wrestler to win a gold at the #AsianWrestlingChampionship in Kyrgyzstan. Congratulations to #SakshiMalik on winning a bronze medal. You have made the nation proud. pic.twitter.com/aZNB0m1Ysb

— Babul Supriyo (@SuPriyoBabul) March 3, 2018

Hearty congratulations to Navjot Kaur, the first Indian woman to win gold at Senior Asian Wrestling Championships . Congratulations to Sakshi Mallik too for winning Bronze. It is indeed a moment of pride for the nation. #AsianWrestlingChampionship #NavjotKaur pic.twitter.com/HwEDQFiLQw

— VicePresidentOfIndia (@VPSecretariat) March 3, 2018

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This is called “wowwwwwwwww” …..
wat a proud moment ….
salutes n congrats to NavjotKaur..#CongratsNavjotKaur https://t.co/Nq65fOppvi

— Kichcha Sudeepa (@KicchaSudeep) March 3, 2018

My heartiest congratulations to #NavjotKaur for winning the Gold medal & @SakshiMalik for winning Bronze at the #AsianWrestlingChampionship. Each and every Indian is proud of their outstanding feat!

— Nitin Gadkari (@nitin_gadkari) March 3, 2018