Tanu Sharma clinched a bronze medal in the women’s 72kg category at the wrestling World Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan, on Thursday. Tanu, who had lost to Poland’s Wiktoria Choluj 2-9 in the qualification round, stayed alive in the bronze-medal race via the repechage as Choluj qualified for the gold-medal bout.
In her bronze medal bout, Tanu secured her place on the podium with a hard-fought 9-5 victory over USA’s Precious Rosanna Bell in the third-place play-off. Notably, Tanu was making her debut at the senior and capped off a great debut year at the senior level with a bronze in her first major international tournament.
Earlier this year, she had won the silver medal at the U20 World Championships. In fact, Tanu’s bronze was India’s first-ever Worlds medal in the 72 kg category. Overall, India won four medals, including Tanu’s in the competition, Kajal Dhochak (76 kg) and Neelam Sirohi (50 kg) winning silver medals and Manisha Bhanwala ensuring another.
Born in an academic family in Bhaklana village of Hansi District, Haryana, Tanu’s father, Virender Sharma, is a Sanskrit teacher at a Government school. Her elder sister is also studying B.Ed. to become a teacher. Unlike her father and elder sister, Tanu has been interested in sports ever since she was a toddler.
It was her uncle Narendra Fauji who wanted Tanu to become a wrestler. But being a teacher himself, Virender wanted her daughter to do studies and sports simultaneously. That’s when Virender came across Altius Public School & Academy.
Alongside her studies, Tanu started training under coach Sanjay Sihag. “Tanu joined us at the age of 14 in class eight. When she came here, her dedication to the sport stood out. She studied the game after her training by watching bouts of senior wrestlers,” Sanjay told the Indian Express.
Sanjay was all praise for Tanu. “Tanu is a smart wrestler. Education is extremely important for wrestlers, as it helps improve game intelligence. Tanu is someone who not only uses her strength but her brain also,” said Sanjay before adding his ward’s emotional side.
“In general, Tanu is an emotional person. When she called me after winning the medal, she was crying. However, it helps her also, especially when she takes a loss to heart. After losing in the first round, she took it seriously and didn’t repeat her mistakes today,” he added.
