World Cadet Wrestling Championships gold medallist Priya Malik: All you need to know about Haryana grappler

A day after Mirabai Chanu’s historic silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics, young Indian wrestler Priya Malik did the nation proud by will the gold at the World Cadet Wrestling Championships in Budapest, Hungary. Priya Malik defeated Kseniya Patapovich 5-0 in the final and won a gold in the women’s 73kg weight category and she has given the country another reason to smile.

The grappler hails from Jind in Haryana and is a student of Choudhary Bharat Singh Memorial School. Her father Jayabhagwan Nidani is an Indian army veteran.

Priya Malik has won the gold medal in the 2019 edition of Khelo India in Pune and then went on to clinch gold in the very same year at the 17th School Games that were held in New Delhi. Apart from these wins, Priya also won two more gold medals the following year in 2020.

Her next two gold medal triumphs came at the National Cadet Championship in Patna as well as at the National School Games respectively. She has also become the first athlete to win a gold medal for India in World Wrestling Championship.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also congratulated all the medallists from the 2021 World Cadet Wrestling Championships. “Our sportspersons continue to make us proud. India wins 13 medals, including 5 Golds at the World Cadet Championships in Budapest, Hungary. Congratulations to our team and best wishes for their future endeavours,” PM Modi tweeted.

Our sportspersons continue to make us proud. India wins 13 medals, including 5 Golds at the World Cadet Championships in Budapest, Hungary. Congratulations to our team and best wishes for their future endeavours. pic.twitter.com/3HlOrKTtDB

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 26, 2021

Meanwhile, model-actor Milind Soman got trolled on Sunday after tweeting a congratulatory message to Indian wrestler Priya Malik, assuming she had won gold at the ongoing Tokyo Olympics. In reality, Malik had bagged a gold medal at the World Cadet Wrestling Championship 2021 in Hungary.

However, Soman apologised in a separate tweet saying he should have checked before tweeting. “Thank you Priya Malik! #gold #TokyoOlympics #wrestling welcome to Mt Olympus,” Soman tweeted on Sunday.

Earlier in the day, Indian cricketer Ishant Sharma made the same blunder and congratulated Priya Malik for winning gold for India at the Olympics. However, the paceman deleted his tweet soon after realizing his blooper but not before the screenshot of the tweet went viral.