Anuj Kumar

Anuj Kumar Chaudhary (born 5 August 1980; also known as Anuj Chaudhry) is a retired amateur Indian freestyle wrestler, who competed in the men's light heavyweight category. He achieved top ten finishes in the 74-kg division at the Asian Games (2002 and 2006), scored two silver medals at the Commonwealth Games (2002 and 2010) and two bronze at the Asian Wrestling Championships, and also represented his nation India at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Before his sporting career ended in 2010, Kumar trained at Guru Hanuman Akhara.[2]

Anuj Kumar
Personal information
Full nameAnuj Kumar Choudhary
Nationality India
Born (1980-08-05) 5 August 1980
Badheri Village, Muzaffarnagar district, Uttar Pradesh[1]
Height1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Weight84 kg (185 lb)
Sport
SportWrestling
StyleFreestyle
ClubGuru Hanuman Akhara

Kumar reached sporting headlines at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England, where he claimed a silver medal in the 84-kg division, losing out to Canada's Nicholas Ugoalah by a tough 4–1 verdict.[3][4] On that same year, he competed for the Indian wrestling team at the Asian Games in Busan, South Korea, but left the tournament empty-handed and injured.

At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Kumar qualified for his first Indian squad in the men's 84 kg class. Earlier in the process, he placed third and guaranteed a spot on the Indian wrestling team from the Olympic Qualification Tournament in Sofia, Bulgaria.[5] He lost two straight matches each to Iran's Majid Khodaei (1–5) and Japan's Hidekazu Yokoyama (5–11), leaving him on the bottom of the prelim pool and placing sixteenth in the final standings.[6][7][8]

Shortly after the Games, Kumar ended his medal drought by picking up a bronze at the 2005 Asian Wrestling Championships in Wuhan, China, and continued to repeat the same outcome in Pattaya, Thailand four years later.[9] He also sought his bid to compete for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, but failed to attain the bid from the Olympic Tournament.

When India hosted the 2010 Commonwealth Games in his native New Delhi, Kumar lost his final match to neighboring Pakistan's Muhammad Inam by a 4–3 decision, and received a silver medal with his home crowd inside Indira Gandhi Arena.[10][11] Following another medal record, Kumar retired from competitive wrestling career to focus on his personal life.

References
  1. Shah, Wajiha (11 October 2010). "Anuj hoping CWG silver will help him get promotion". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 24 March 2016. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
  2. Ghosh, Abantika (22 August 2008). "They search for gold in mud". The Times of India (New Delhi edition). Retrieved 27 July 2018.
  3. "Ugoalah takes gold". BBC Sport. 3 August 2002. Retrieved 8 July 2014.
  4. "India end third in overall medals tally". Rediff.com. 5 August 2002. Retrieved 8 July 2014.
  5. Abbott, Gary (18 July 2004). "Olympic Games preview at 84 kg/185 lbs. in men's freestyle". USA Wrestling. The Mat. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 29 September 2013.
  6. "Wrestling: Men's Freestyle 84kg". Athens 2004. BBC Sport. 15 August 2004. Retrieved 30 September 2013.
  7. "Wrestler Anuj finishes 16th in 84kg". Rediff.com. 27 August 2004. Retrieved 7 July 2014.
  8. "Grappler Anuj Kumar loses first bout". The Hindustan Times. 27 August 2004. Retrieved 8 July 2014.
  9. "Indian men pick up three bronzes". Calcutta: The Telegraph. 27 May 2005. Retrieved 8 July 2014.
  10. "Sushil Kumar wins gold in 66 kg". Times of India. 10 October 2010. Retrieved 8 July 2014.
  11. "Sushil wins gold, Anuj & Joginder settle for silver". Dainik Bhaskar. 10 October 2010. Retrieved 8 July 2014.


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