Anshu Malik Height, Weight, Age, Family, Biography & More

Bio/Wiki
Profession	Freestyle Wrestler
Physical Stats & More
[1]ESPN Height	in centimeters- 162 cm in meters- 1.62 m in feet & inches- 5’ 3”
Weight (approx.)	in kilograms- 57 kg in pounds- 126 lbs
Eye Colour	Brown
Hair Colour	Natural Black
Wrestling
Category	57 kg/59 kg/60 kg
Coach/Mentors	• Ramchandra Pawar • Jagdeesh Sheoran • Kuldeep Malik
Medals	Individual World Cups 2020: Silver medal- 57 kg in Belgrade (Serbia) Asian Championships 2020: Bronze medal- 57 kg event in New Delhi (India) 2021: Gold medal- 57 kg in Almaty (Kazakhstan) World Junior Wrestling Championships 2018: Bronze medal- 59kg in Trnava (Slovakia) Asian Junior Championships 2019: Gold medal: 59kg in Chon Buri (Thailand) World Cadet Championships 2016: Bronze medal: 60kg in Tbilisi (Georgia) 2017: Gold medal: 60kg in Athens (Greece) 2018: Bronze medal: 60kg in Zagreb (Croatia) World Wrestling Championships 2021: Silver medal: 57kg in Oslo (Norway) Commonwealth Games 2022: Silver In Women's Freestyle 57kg in Birmingham
Career Turning Point	Gold medal at the World Cadet Championships held in Athens in 2017
Personal Life
Date of Birth	5 August 2001 (Sunday)
Age (as of 2024)	23 Years
Birthplace	Nidani Village in Jind (Haryana)
Zodiac sign	Leo
Nationality	Indian
Hometown	Nidani Village in Jind (Haryana)
School	Chaudhary Bharat Singh Memorial Sports School (Nidani, Haryana)
Educational Qualifications	Bachelor of Arts (Undergraduate) [2]Indian Express
Hobbies	Travelling
Relationships & More
Marital Status	Unmarried
Family
Parents	Father- Dharamvir Malik (former international wrestler and works in CISF) Mother- Manju Malik (school teacher)
Grandparents	Grandfather- Bir Singh (former Kabaddi player) Grandmother- Vedavati
Siblings	Brother- Shubham Malik (freestyle wrestler)
Favourites
Wrestler	Kaori Icho, Sushil Kumar
Film	Dangal (released in 2016)
Colour	Yellow

Some Lesser Known Facts About Anshu Malik

• Anshu Malik is a freestyle wrestler hailing from Haryana. She competes at international competitions and is known for winning medals in almost every game she participates in. Out of 17 matches, she won medals in 14 of them (as of 2021). She gained the limelight after winning the silver medal in the finals of the World Championships 2021 held in Oslo (Norway), thus becoming the first female Indian wrestler to do so. Before that only Geeta Phogat (2012), Babita Phogat (2012), Pooja Dhanda (2018), and Vinesh Phogat (2019) have clinched bronze at the World Championships. She lost to Olympic medallist Helen Maroulis 4-1 in that match.
  

  ANSHU creates history by becoming 1st 🇮🇳 woman wrestler to win a SILVER 🥈 at prestigious World C'ships @OLyAnshu goes down against Tokyo 2020 Bronze medalist Helen Marlouis of USA 🇺🇸 at #WrestleOslo in 57 kg event

  Anshu displayed a commendable spirit, many congratulations! pic.twitter.com/VA2AsVLoii

  — SAI Media (@Media_SAI) October 7, 2021

• Haryana state is known for producing some of the great boxers and wrestlers. Sakshi Malik, Sushil Kumar, Vinesh Phogat, Yogeshwar Dutt, and Kavita Devi (WWE) are some of the big names in wrestling that come from Haryana. She also became the sixth Indian ever to make the Worlds gold medal match after Bishambar Singh (1967), Sushil Kumar (2010), Amit Dahiya (2013), Bajrang Punia (2018), and Deepak Punia (2019). ^[3]Business Line The Haryana Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs Sandeep Sharma congratulated her for her historical performance in the finals. Interestingly, she appeared for her final year examination before the competition.

• During that game, neither Anshu nor her opponent was aggressive in the beginning. But gradually, Maroulis spun back quickly and pinned her for securing four points soon. Anshu was crying in pain as she could not get up for two minutes. She was unable to hold her right hand properly. Due to her injury in the right hand, she was unable to resist when Maroulis held her right shoulder. In the end, Anshu was provided with medical assistance. Previously she had defeated world champion Linda Morais, European and U23 world champion Grace Bullen, Veronika Chumikova, and Evelina Nikolova. But it was her opponent’s experience that did the trick. Soon after the loss, her father reacted with pride ^[4]Hindustan Times

“Despite being in pain my daughter did great and won a silver medal. We all were expecting her to win gold as it’s a long-standing dream of mine, but no worries. It’s just a beginning for her and I am proud of her effort. I couldn’t sleep last night and woke up early today as the excitement didn’t allow me to sleep properly. I wasn’t alone facing this problem in the family, but everyone at home was anxious before the bout.”

Anshu Malik after bagging the place in the finals of the World Championships

• Her World Championship campaign started with the win over Nilufar Raimova (Kazakhstan) by technical superiority in a round of 16. Her next match was against Davaachimeg Erkhembayar from Mongolia which she won convincingly by 5-1 to reach the semis. She later defeated junior European champion Solomiia Vynnyk by 11-1. After that achievement, she said
  

  “I am so happy. What I could not do at the Tokyo Games I did here. I fought each and every bout as my last bout. I suffered an injury (elbow) and can’t explain how much pain I endured one month before the World Championship. I will fight the final like it’s my last bout.”

  

  Anshu Malik competing in the 2021 World Championships

• Interestingly, during the quarterfinals, she played with her ankle injury. According to her father, she competed in the semis after taking painkillers. He further added, ^[5]Sportstar
  

  “After the Olympic loss, I advised her to believe in her karma. Her elbow injury got aggravated in the selection trials. It was a really tough month. Anshu continued to train (under the guidance of her coach Jagdeesh Sheoran at Nidani village in Jind district of Haryana) despite tremendous pain. Her determination helped her.”

  In a video message on Twitter, she wrote,

  “I am extremely delighted. In the Olympics, I could not perform the way I wanted to. I can’t explain how I trained for a month with that (left elbow) injury. I didn’t want to repeat the disappointing performance I put up at the Olympics.”

• Her long-serving coach Jagdish Sheoran revealed that she was playing the world championships with an elbow injury which she sustained during the selection trial on 30 August. After that, he said,
  

  “We took her to a doctor who advised her complete rest for one week. After that, she worked only on strengthening her legs, giving the elbow the desired rest. It is important to keep her injury-free keeping the senior nationals next month in mind and then the Commonwealth and Asian Games next year.”

  

  Anshu Malik with her coach Jagdish Sheoran

• She started her wrestling career in 2012 after watching her brother trained at the CBSM Sports School. She convinced her father to admit her to the Nidani Sports School for training where she started wrestling as her career. Her father also wanted one of his family members to do big in wrestling. She used to be a bright student in her school and was a topper in her tenth standard. Her coach said
  

  “She is a quick learner. During training, Anshu would make mental notes of various moves like Bhandhaj and Kheech apart from Gatta Pakad and would also try minute variations in these attacks.”

  Seeing her passion for this sport, her father ensured that her daughter could get easy access to the national camps in Sonipat and Lucknow region.

  

  Anshu Malik with her father

• The main reason behind taking this sport was financial stability. Her goal is to bag a government job. But after the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, She was offered a railway job by the state government, which she denied by saying that she will only do the job after the completion of her graduation.

• In 2016, she was trained at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) national center of excellence Lucknow. As time went by, Anshu went from defeating girls in her school events to the national and then the international level. She always use to be a girl with a strong mindset. She told that her undefeated spirit keeps her out of the negative comments from society about the participation of girls in wrestling.
  

  Anshu Malik after winning the Bronze medal in 59kgs at Junior World Wrestling Championships People wrestling held at Trnava (Slovakia)

• She belongs to a family of wrestlers. Her father is a former international wrestler who represented India at the junior wrestling team during the 1990s. He also represented India in the World Cadet Championships in 1995 in the 76kg category.  Her mother is also a freestyle wrestler while her brother competes at the national events in this sport.

• She won her first gold medal at the national school games in 2016. From 2017 to 2018, she could able to defend her medal twice at the Cadet World Championships. In 2018, she became the champion in the Junior Wrestling National Championships. She started competing at the senior level one year later where her first match was against the World Champion Linda Morais of Canada. She defeated her convincingly followed by her win over the two-time European Champion Grace Bullen of Norway in the Mattio Pellicone Ranking series.
  

  Anshu Malik after winning the silver in Rome

• She bagged the place at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics with her win over Shokida Akhmedova in the Asia Oceania Olympic qualifier at Almaty, Kazakhstan. Later, she suffered from a back injury during the ranking series in Rome. At the Tokyo Olympics, she lost to Iryna Kurachkina from Belarus. Iryna Kurachkina is a double world championship medallist. After her return from that event, her father ensured that she should be welcomed like a champion in spite of her defeat. He further added ^[6]Indian Express
  

  “Whenever I returned from international competitions without winning a medal, I would always feel dejected. But that has not been the case in Anshu’s career. I have always told her that a loss also teaches one something. She has put the loss against the Russian in the Olympics behind her. To see her become the only Indian wrestler to reach the final of world championships makes me a little emotional.”

  After her return, she worked on her weak points like leg attacks as well as the defense.

  

  Anshu Malik’s family watching her on television competing in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics

• Her schedule starts at 4:30 in the morning. Then after practicing the sport, in the evening she prepares for her examination. ^[7]The Better India She does work out three hours in the morning and three hours in the evening. Her next target is to compete in the 2024 Paris Olympics. She considers Sonam Malik (also a freestyle wrestler) as her best friend.
  

  Anshu Malik with Sonam Malik