Sakshi Malik wins maiden gold in CWG, beats Canada's Godinez Gonzalez in 62 kg

Sakshi Malik (Source: Twitter)

Sakshi Malik won gold medal for India at the Commonwealth Games (CWG) 2022 in Birmingham on Friday (August 5). She defeated Canada's Godinez Gonzalez in the Women's 62 kg category final. (CWG 2022: Bajrang Punia bags India's first gold medal in Wrestling, beats Canada's Lachlan McNeil)

Sakshi Malik is an Indian freestyle wrestler. At the 2016 Summer Olympics, She won the bronze medal in the 58 kg category, becoming the first Indian female wrestler to win a medal at the Olympics. She is a part of the JSW Sports Excellence Program, along with fellow female wrestlers Vinesh Phogat, Babita Kumari and Geeta Phogat. Malik had previously won the silver medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, and the bronze medal at the 2015 Asian Wrestling Championships in Doha. 

According to her father, she was motivated to take up wrestling from seeing her grandfather Badlu Ram, who was also a wrestler. Malik's first success as a professional wrestler in the international arena came in 2010 at the Junior World Championships where she won the bronze medal in the 58 kg freestyle event. (More to follow)

Well done Sakshi Malik, another gold medal in wrestling, proud moment pic.twitter.com/Y30Sf7Ie7V — Sanjay Singh (@SanjayS55656442) August 5, 2022