Amit Kumar Dahiya (born 15 December 1993) is an Indian wrestler who represented India at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom. He was the youngest wrestler ever to represent India at the Olympics while also being the youngest athlete of the 2012 Indian Olympic delegation. In the recently concluded Pro Wrestling League’s players’ auction, he has been bought by Olive Global, a technology firm, and will be part of Haryana Hammers wrestling team.

Life and family

Dahiya hails from Nahri village of Sonepat district, Haryana. He comes from a modest background with his father Narender Dahiya employed as a small-scale farmer. Amit started wrestling in second grade at the age of seven, defeating a seventh grade student during a casual match in school. Seeing immense potential, his teachers and his family were encouraged to send him for proper training. He was admitted in the

akhara Akhara or Akhada (Hindi: अखाड़ा, romanised: ''Akhāṛā'') is an Indian word for a place of practice with facilities for boarding, lodging and training, both in the context of Indian martial artists or a ''sampradaya'' monastery fo ...

of Hansrajji, at that time used only for recreation. After seeing his talent, wrestling coach and former Asian and

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

medallist

Satpal Singh Satpal Singh (born 1 February 1955), also known as Guru Satpal, is a wrestling coach and former wrestler of India. He was a gold medalist in 1982 Asian Games and a bronze medalist in 1974 Asian Games. Today he is better known as the coach of O ...

took him in his Delhi's wrestling training centre at Chhatrasal Stadium,

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

Career

2012 Asian Wrestling Championships

In the opening round of the men's 55 kg freestyle category, Amit faced Ruslan Seksenbaev of

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

and beat him 3:0. In the next round, Amit's opponent was Yasuhiro Inaba of Japan, losing to him 0:5. With the Japanese grappler reaching the final round, Amit was able to compete in the repechage round. In the first repechage round, his opponent was Alvin Lobriguito of the Philippines whom he beat 3:1 to qualify for the bronze medal bout. Amit was able to win the bronze medal, beating Altinbek Alimbaev of

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan, officially the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia lying in the Tian Shan and Pamir Mountains, Pamir mountain ranges. Bishkek is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Kyrgyzstan, largest city. Kyrgyz ...

3:0.

2013 World Wrestling Championships The 2013 World Wrestling Championships was the 9th edition of World Wrestling Championships of combined events and were held from September 16 to 22 in Budapest, Hungary. Medal table Team ranking Medal summary Men's freestyle Men's Greco- ...

In Budapest, Amit won the silver medal n the 55 kg category before losing to the Iranian

Hassan Rahimi Hassan Rahimi (, born 15 June 1989) is an Iranian wrestler. He was born in Tehran, Iran, and grown up in Yaftabad Tehran. In 2008, he became the Junior Asian Champion and Junior World silver medalist. In 2009 he became the Junior World Champion. ...

in the gold medal bout. In the first round, Amit faced Yasuhiro Inaba of Japan, whom he lost to in the Asian Wrestling Championships the previous year but was able to exact revenge and beat him 4:1. His second round opponent was Zoheir Elquaraque of France whom he beat 4:0. In the quarter-finals, he was up against Angel Escobedo of the USA whom he overcame 4:0 easily. To qualify for the gold medal bout, he was up against Sezer Akguel of Turkey whom he was able to beat 4:0 easily.

2013 Asian Wrestling Championships

In the tournament in New Delhi, Amit won the gold medal in the men's freestyle 55 kg category, beating Yang Kyong-il of

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

by 1–0, 5–2 in the gold medal bout. After first round bye, he defeated Rassul Kaliyev of

in the quarter-finals, and Japanese grappler Fumitaka Morishita in the semi-finals.

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games (), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014 (; ), were an international multi-sport event celebrated in the tradition of the Commonwealth Games as governed by the Commonwea ...

Amit won the gold medal in the men's freestyle 57 kg category, beating Ebikweminomo Welson of

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

with a thumping 6-2. In the Round of 16, Amit faced Jean Guyliane Bandoo of

Mauritius Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...

and won 5:0. His next opponent in the quarter-final round was Bokang Masunyane of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

whom he beat 4:0 comfortably. To qualify for the gold medal match, he faced Azhar Hussain from

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

in the semi-finals whom he beat easily 4:0.

2014 Asian Games The 2014 Asian Games (), officially known as the 17th Asian Games () and also known as Incheon 2014 (), were a pan-Asian multi-sport event held from 19 September to 4 October 2014 in Incheon, South Korea. On 17 April 2007, Incheon was awarded ...

Amit Kumar unfortunately couldn't repeat his Commonwealth Games feat. He crashed out of the tournament in the first round itself, losing 1:3 to Fumitaka Morishita of

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

Awards

* Dave Schultz Memorial Tournament - Silver, 2014 * Arjuna Awarde * Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratan * Bheem awarde

External links

Official FILA page of Amit Kumar Dahiya
* Instagram Handle — https://instagram.com/amitdahiya1112?igshid=NzNkNDdiOGI=

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dahiya, Amit Kumar 1993 births Living people Indian male sport wrestlers 21st-century Indian sportsmen Wrestlers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Sport wrestlers from Haryana Olympic wrestlers for India Wrestlers at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Wrestlers at the 2014 Asian Games World Wrestling Championships medalists Commonwealth Games gold medallists for India Commonwealth Games gold medallists in wrestling Asian Games competitors for India Recipients of the Arjuna Award Medallists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games