Deepak Punia is an Indian freestyle wrestler. He came into limelight in 2019 when he won the silver medal at the World Wrestling Championships held in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan and upon winning this event, he qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics.
Contents
Wiki/Biography
Deepak Punia was born on Wednesday, 19 May 1999 (age 23 years; as of 2022) in Chhara, Jhajjar, Haryana. His zodiac sign is Taurus. Deepak received his early wrestling training at his home as his father and grandfather worked as professional wrestlers. They used to compete in local tournaments (dangal). According to his family, he started showing interest in wrestling at the age of four. Gradually he started participating in local riots to earn money. Later, he joined Chhatrasal Stadium to receive professional training in the wrestling sport.
Physical Appearance
Height (Approx): 5′ 8″
Weight (Approx): 85 kg
Hair Color: Black
Eye colour: black
Family
parents and siblings
His father’s name is Subhash Punia and he is a milkman.
Deepak Punia’s father
His mother’s name is Krishna Punia and she was a housewife.
Deepak Punia with his mother
She has a sister named Neeru Dhanda who is a part of the Indian shooting team.
livelihood
Wrestling
Deepak Punia started professional training in wrestling in 2015 under the guidance of his coaches Virendra Kumar and Satpal Singh.
Deepak Punia with his coach Virendra Kumar
During the same time, two-time Olympic medalist Sushil Kumar also started teaching him professional wrestling strategies. In 2016, he won the gold medal at the 2016 Cadet World Championships, which was held in Tbilisi, Georgia. In 2018, he was the gold medal winner in the 86 kg category at the Asian Junior Athletics. In the same year, he participated in the Junior World Wrestling Championships and won a silver medal for India.
Deepak Punia after winning gold medal and belt in Asian Wrestling Championship
The following year, he was part of the Junior World Wrestling Championships in which he won the gold medal in the 86 kg weight category. The same year, he won a silver medal at the World Wrestling Championships held in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, paving the way for his participation at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. In 2021, Deepak won the silver medal at the Asian Championships held in Almaty, Kazakhstan. In the same year, Deepak Punia suffered a hand injury during the Poland Open Championships after which he decided not to participate in competitions to avoid any further injuries. In these championships, he was to face American wrestler Zahid Valencia in the quarter-finals.
government officer
The Government of India appointed Deepak Punia as Naik Subedar in the Indian Army in 2018.
medal
Sleep
2016: Cadet World Championship (Tbilisi) in the 85 kg category.
2018: Asian Junior Athletics Championship (New Delhi) in 86 kg category.
2019: Junior World Wrestling Championships (Tallinn) in the 86 kg category.
2022: Birmingham Commonwealth Games in 86 kg category
Deepak Punia wins gold medal at 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games
silver
2018: Junior World Wrestling Championships (Trnava) in the 86 kg category.
2019: World Wrestling Championship in 86 kg category (Nur-Sultan).
2021: Asian Wrestling Championship (Almaty) in 86 kg category.
Brass
2019: Asian Wrestling Championships (Xi’an) in 86 kg category.
2020: Asian Wrestling Championship (New Delhi) in 86 kg category.
Facts/General Knowledge
- While talking to a media house, Deepak Punia revealed that Sushil Kumar and Bajrang Punia are his favorite Indian wrestlers.
- According to Deepak Punia, Indian wrestler Hasan Yazdani is his idol. Hasan is the 2016 Olympic champion and two-time world champion. Once, Deepak and Hasan faced each other in the final of the Asian Championships, in which Hasan was declared the winner of the match, while Deepak lost the match due to technical submission. While talking to a media house after Deepak lost the match, Deepak Punia’s coach Virendra said that it is normal to get confused in front of the person whom you considered your idol growing up. Virendra said,
It’s natural to feel nervous when you have to fight the wrestler you idolized growing up. But that hesitation is a thing of the past. He discussed the Asian final match with me and has already made a plan.
Deepak and Hassan
In this discussion, Virendra talked about Deepak’s dedication towards the game. He said that over the years, Deepak worked hard to maintain a highly disciplined and balanced life. Virendra revealed that Deepak also tried to learn a lot from the actions of the children. He said,
If I tell the trainees that they have to do 600 dand-sits (push-ups and deep knee bends) as part of the workout, Deepak will not only complete it, but he will also do some extra. I have seen him learning tricks even from children.
- According to Deepak Punia, his father used to deliver fruits and milk from Jhajjar to his training center, for which he had to travel 60 kilometers every morning. Deepak was nicknamed ‘Kettle Pehalwan’ by the people of his village when once the village head offered milk in a kettle to Deepak and Deepak drank the entire kettle in a single gulp. Later Deepak repeated the same incident three more times.
- Deepak likes shopping and going to malls in his free time. He likes to spend time with his close friends. Deepak is fond of food and often likes to eat junk food. While talking to a media house, he said that he likes to eat junk food only during the breaks of the tournament. Deepak said,
Whenever I get a chance, like after tournaments, I go out and eat junk food too. But once the break is over I don’t think about anything else. Wrestling and training is life.”
Deepak Punia with his friends
- Reportedly, according to Deepak Punia, the Haryana government did not support him financially during his early years in wrestling. In a media interaction, Deepak said that he did not receive any monetary reward after winning the Cadet World Championship in 2016. Soon, his appeal was highlighted on social media by Indian wrestler Bajrang Punia, who posted a tweet on his Twitter handle and wrote that the prize money of senior wrestlers is often being cut by the government. He also highlighted the fact that junior wrestlers need financial assistance from the government for better encouragement so that they can work harder and perform better in their future competitions.
Senior players still got awards, what chance did junior players get to become senior? The color of the medal is the same and the name of the country is also the same, then why such discrimination? Sir, please think something for the cadets and junior players also. @anilvijminister https://t.co/SEs68tcZlA
– Bajrang Punia 🇮🇳 (@Bajrangpunia) 15 August 2019
- According to some media sources, in 2018, Deepak Punia asked his father to stop selling milk as he was earning well for his family. The same year he bought an SUV car for her.
- United World Wrestling honored Deepak Punia with the title of Junior Freestyle Wrestler of the Year in 2019.
- Deepak Punia suffered shoulder and ankle injuries during the World Wrestling Championship in 2019. In the final matches of this tournament, he faced Iranian wrestler Hassan Yazdani, who defeated Deepak in the 86 kg weight category and Deepak had to be satisfied with the silver medal.
Deepak Punia posing with the silver medal after winning the World Championship
- In 2020, according to some media sources, Deepak Punia became the first wrestler in eighteen years to win the Junior World Championship. Due to his exceptional performance at the Junior World Championships, Forbes named him in its ’30 Under 30′ list in 2021.
#deepakpuniaThe 21-year-old wrestler became the first Indian in 18 years to win the Junior World Championship. Watch out for them at the Tokyo Olympics later this year! #ForbesIndia30U30
Check out the full list here: https://t.co/OcRKzXXdSl @India_AllSports@FederationWrest pic.twitter.com/gKdKwGzD1P
– Forbes India (@ForbesIndia) 9 February 2020
- Deepak Punia along with his fellow wrestler Ravi Kumar Dahiya visited Russia for the training session for the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. At the time of their arrival in Russia, they were partially vaccinated against Corona, so the Indian Embassy in Moscow decided to vaccinate both of them with the second dose of Covishield. However, Poland’s strict vaccination policy did not allow him to get the second dose of the vaccine.
- In 2021, he was honored with the Padmashree award by the Government of India.
Deepak Punia receiving Padma Shri in 2021
- Deepak Punia is a fitness enthusiast. He regularly does physical exercises and often shares photos and videos of his exercise sessions on social media.
Deepak Punia doing physical exercise
- He is quite active on various social media platforms. He has more than 65 thousand followers on Instagram. A lot of people follow him on Facebook. He often shares pictures and videos on social media.
Categories: Biography
Source: vcmp.edu.vn