Udey Chand (born 25 June 1935) is a retired

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

n wrestler and wrestling coach who was the first individual world championship medal winner from

independent India Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

. He was awarded the first

Arjuna Award The Arjuna Award, officially known as Arjuna Awards given for Outstanding Performance in Sports and Games, is the second-highest sporting honour of India, the highest being the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. The award is named after Arjun ...

in wrestling in 1961, by

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

Early life

Chand was born on 25 June 1935 in Jandli village of

Hisar district Hisar district is one of the 22 districts of Haryana, India. Hisar city serves as the district headquarters. Hisar district has four sub-divisions that is, Hisar, Barwala, Hansi and Narnaud, each headed by an SDM. The district is also part of ...

and currently resides in Hisar.

Career

He started his career with the

Indian Army The Indian Army (IA) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Land warfare, land-based branch and largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief, Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head ...

. He created history by winning a bronze medal in Light Weight (67 kg) Freestyle at 1961 World Wrestling Championships at Yokohama. During his bout against the eventual world champion Mahamed-Ali Sanatkaran he was particularly unlucky as referees judged his throwing down of the opponent outside the area and the bout ended in a 1–1 draw. For his achievements he was conferred the first

in wrestling in 1961 by President of India,.Arjun Award Winners for "Wrestling"
, '' Ministry of Youth Welfare & Sports,

Official Website'' He participated in three

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

namely Rome 1960, Tokyo 1964, Mexico City 1968 and finished with a creditable 6th Rank in Mexico City. He took part twice in

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years for athletes of Asia. The Games were regulated by Asian Games Federation from the 1951 Asian Games, first Games in New Delhi, India in 1951, until ...

winning two silver medals in 70 kg Freestyle as well as 70 kg

Greco-Roman The Greco-Roman world , also Greco-Roman civilization, Greco-Roman culture or Greco-Latin culture (spelled Græco-Roman or Graeco-Roman in British English), as understood by modern scholars and writers, includes the geographical regions and co ...

1962 Asian Games The 1962 Asian Games () also known as the 4th Asian Games, IV Asiad, and Jakarta 1962, were the fourth edition of pan-Asian multi-sport event sanctioned by the Asian Games Federation (AGF). The games were held from 24 August to 4 September 1962, ...

Jakarta and won a bronze medal in 70 kg Freestyle at

1966 Asian Games The 1966 Asian Games, also known as the V Asiad or Bangkok 1966, were a continental multi-sport event that was held from 9 to 20 December 1966, in Bangkok, Thailand. A total of 142 events in 16 sports were contested by athletes during the games. T ...

Bangkok. In addition to these he participated in four different world wrestling championships i.e. Yokohama 1961, Manchester 1965, Delhi 1967 and Edmonton 1970. He signed off his glittering career with a befitting gold medal at 1970 British Commonwealth Games held at Edinburgh, Scotland.Medal tally by sport
''

Commonwealth Games Federation The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), currently known as Commonwealth Sport, is the international organisation responsible for the direction and control of the Commonwealth Games and Commonwealth Youth Games, and is the governing body ...

Official Website'' He remained an undisputed national champion in India from 1958 to 1970.

Later life

After retiring from

he joined Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar as a coach and rendered his services from 1970 to 1996. During his time as coach he groomed many international level wrestlers and guided the university team to many All Indian Inter University Championship triumphs. Currently he lives in Hisar and still actively assists budding wrestlers.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chand, Udey 1935 births Living people People from Hisar district Indian wrestling coaches Olympic wrestlers for India Wrestlers at the 1960 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 1964 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 1968 Summer Olympics Indian male sport wrestlers 20th-century Indian sportsmen Wrestlers at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games Indian Army personnel Sport wrestlers from Haryana Commonwealth Games gold medallists for India Commonwealth Games gold medallists in wrestling Recipients of the Arjuna Award Asian Games medalists in wrestling Wrestlers at the 1962 Asian Games Wrestlers at the 1966 Asian Games World Wrestling Championships medalists Asian Games silver medalists for India Asian Games bronze medalists for India Medalists at the 1962 Asian Games Medalists at the 1966 Asian Games Medallists at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games