Pooja Sihag is an Indian freestyle wrestler competing in the 76 kg weight category. Sihag’s bronze medal in the women’s 76 kg category added to India’s growing medal tally at the Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham on Saturday.

Sihag won the bronze medal match against Naomi De Bruine of Australia through technical dominance, racing to a 10-0 lead.

Also read: Commonwealth Games 2022: Pooja Sihag claims bronze medal in wrestling

Sihag began her CWG quest in England with a points victory over New Zealand’s Michelle Montague in her first bout in the 76 kg category. The Indian grappler outscored her opponent 5-3, with four of her points coming in the second phase of action, helping her advance to the event’s semi-finals.

But her fortunes reversed in the last four, as she lost her place in the gold medal match to Canadian wrestler Justina Di Stasio.

Di Stasio won the point battle over Sihag, scoring six points while preventing the Indian from opening her account.

Also read: Commonwealth Games 2022: Naveen Kumar bags wrestling gold medal

She is from the Indian city of Hansi in Haryana. 

Sihag began wrestling as a 13-year-old in 2011. Pooja Sihag started wrestling to stay fit, but it quickly became a passion for her. At the junior Asian Championships, she took home four medals, three bronze, and one silver. Sihag won the silver medal in the Commonwealth Youth Games in South Africa in 2017.

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Sihag won bronze in the Women’s 76 kg category at the Asian Wrestling Championship in Almaty in 2021.

With Sihag’s CWG victory, India extended their reign in wrestling after starting the event strong with gold medalists Bajrang Punia, Sakshi Malik, and Deepak Punia. Anshu Malik won a silver medal in the women’s 50 kg event, while Divya Kakran and Mohit Grewal both took silver.