2601:602:9200:A190:E1A9:153C:C44F:BC6E at 23:12, 2 April 2022

2022-04-02T23:12:38Z

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{{Short description|Family of female wrestlers}}
{{Redirect|Phogat|the village in [[Haryana]]|Phogat, Bhiwani}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=February 2018}}
{{Infobox family|image=Aamir Khan's guests at birthday bash for close friends and family.jpg|crest=|alt2=Phogat family in 2017|image_caption= Phogat family in 2017|name= Phogat sisters|origin=|region=[[Balali]], [[Charkhi Dadri district]], [[Haryana]], [[India]]|early_forms=|members=[[Geeta Phogat]] [[Babita Kumari]] [[Priyanka Phogat]] [[Ritu Phogat]] [[Vinesh Phogat]] Sangeeta Phogat |connectedmembers=[[Mahavir Singh Phogat]] (father)|otherfamilies=|traditions=|estate=}}

The '''Phogat sisters''' are six sisters from [[Haryana]], India, all of whom are [[wrestler]]s. In order of their birth, they are [[Geeta Phogat|Geeta]], [[Babita Kumari|Babita]], [[Priyanka Phogat|Priyanka]], [[Ritu Phogat|Ritu]], [[Vinesh Phogat|Vinesh]], and Sangeeta.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Rajpal|first1=Hina|title=Stories Of Sisterhood: The Phogat Sisters|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.in/hina-rajpal/stories-of-sisterhood-the_b_7991938.html|access-date=18 August 2016|work=The Huffington Post|date=19 August 2015}}</ref> While Geeta, Babita, Ritu, and Sangeeta are daughters of former wrestler and coach [[Mahavir Singh Phogat]], Priyanka and Vinesh were brought up by Mahavir after their father, who is the younger brother of Mahavir, died when they were young.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Sengupta|first1=Rudraneil|title=The Story Of These Six Wrestler Sisters From Haryana Is What You Should Read Today|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.in/rudraneil-sengupta/the-story-of-these-six-wrestler-sisters-from-haryana-is-what-you/|access-date=18 August 2016|work=The Huffington Post|date=18 August 2016}}</ref> Mahavir trained all six of them in wrestling in their home village of Balali in [[Bhiwani district]].<ref>{{cite news|last1=Gupta|first1=Gargi|title=Meet the medal winning Phogat sisters|url=http://www.dnaindia.com/lifestyle/report-meet-the-medal-winning-phogat-sisters-2009485|access-date=18 August 2016|work=DNA India|date=10 August 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Sengupta|first1=Rudraneil|title=Gender: Six ways to break the shackles|url=http://www.livemint.com/Leisure/HSkIGQCBJHTNWx91UgibbM/Gender-Six-ways-to-break-the-shackles.html|access-date=18 August 2016|work=Livemint|date=20 September 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Duggal|first1=Saurabh|title=Wrestling league's power puff girls|url=http://www.pressreader.com/india/hindustan-times-st-mumbai/20151216/282445643006149|access-date=18 August 2016|work=Hindustan Times Mumbai|publisher=PressReader|date=16 December 2015}}</ref>

Three of the Phogat sisters, Geeta, Babita, and Vinesh, are gold medalists in different weight categories at the [[Wrestling at the Commonwealth Games|Commonwealth Games]], while Priyanka has won a silver medal at the Asian Championships. Ritu is a National Championships gold medalist and Sangita has won medals at age-level international championships.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Basu|first1=Suromitro|title=An ode to sisterhood: Yet another Phogat sets the benchmark for Indian women's wrestling|url=https://in.news.yahoo.com/ode-sisterhood-yet-another-phogat-145800481.html|access-date=18 August 2016|work=Yahoo!|date=16 May 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Kanthwal|first1=Gaurav|title=But hey, this is family...|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/more-sports/wrestling/But-hey-this-is-family/articleshow/6239783.cms?referral=PM|access-date=18 August 2016|work=The Times of India|date=31 July 2010}}</ref>

The success of the Phogat sisters has attracted substantial media attention, particularly in light of prevalent social issues in Haryana such as [[Gender inequality in India|gender inequality]], [[Female foeticide in India|female foeticide]], and [[Child marriage in India|child marriage]].<ref name=cnn>{{cite news|last1=Udas|first1=Sumnima|title=The Indian female wrestlers breaking taboos and making history|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2016/07/28/sport/india-female-wrestlers-olympics/|access-date=18 August 2016|work=CNN.com|date=28 July 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Briggs|first1=Simon|title=London 2012 Olympics: Phogat sisters are wrestling superstars in northern India|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/8661018/London-2012-Olympics-Phogat-sisters-are-wrestling-superstars-in-northern-India.html|access-date=18 August 2016|work=The Telegraph|date=26 July 2011}}</ref>
[[Chandgi Ram]]'s daughters, Sonika and Deepika, sowed the seeds of encouraging girls to take up women's wrestling in the 1990s; his protege Mahavir Phogat's daughters revolutionized wrestling, and then [[Sakshi Malik]] won an Olympic medal, which led to a big change in the mentality towards women wrestling.<ref name=chand1>[https://www.livemint.com/Sports/BGwSgHcAHPXXSZhNM9KRLI/Womens-wrestling-in-India-Why-Navjot-Kaurs-gold-medal-is.html Women’s wrestling in India: Why Navjot Kaur’s gold medal is a watershed moment], [[Livemint]], 31 March 2018.</ref>

==Background==
Mahavir Singh Phogat is a former wrestler from Balali village in [[Bhiwani district]], Haryana, who became a wrestling coach. His father Man Singh was also a wrestler. Mahavir and his wife Daya Kaur have five children: daughters [[Geeta Phogat|Geeta]], [[Babita Kumari|Babita]], [[Ritu Phogat|Ritu]], and [[Sangita Phogat|Sangita]], and the youngest being son Dushyant and the youngest being Mahavir's brother Rajpal's daughters [[Priyanka Phogat|Priyanka]] and [[Vinesh Phogat|Vinesh]] were brought up by Mahavir after the death of their father.

Mahavir was inspired to train his daughters in wrestling when weightlifter [[Karnam Malleswari]] became the first Indian woman to win an [[Olympic Games|Olympic]] medal in 2000. He was also influenced by his coach Chandgi Ram, who had taught wrestling to his own daughters.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Joshi|first1=Sonam|title=Meet Mahavir Singh Phogat, The Fascinating Wrestler Who Inspired Aamir Khan's 'Dangal'|url=http://www.HuffingtonPost.in/2016/10/21/meet-Mahavir-Singh-phogat-the-fascinating-wrestler-who-inspired/|access-date=28 December 2016|work=The Huffington Post|date=21 October 2016}}</ref> Kaur recollects, "I told my husband not to push the girls into the sport. I was worried about how they will ever get married as [[Pehlwani|pehelwans]] wearing shorts and cutting their hair!"<ref>{{cite news|last1=Agarwal|first1=Stuti|title=Home-Schooling By Mr Phogat|url=http://www.outlookindia.com/magazine/story/home-schooling-by-mr-phogat/297740|access-date=28 December 2016|work=Outlook India|date=29 August 2016}}</ref> Regarding the opposition by the villagers against training his daughters, Mahavir said, "Everyone said I was bringing shame to our village by training my girls, but I thought, if a [[Indira Gandhi|woman can be Prime Minister]] of a country, why can't she be a wrestler?"<ref name=cnn/> Deprived of proper facilities in his village where his daughters wrestled against boys, Mahavir enrolled Geeta and Babita into the [[Sports Authority of India]] center in [[Sonipat]].<ref>{{cite news|last1=Biswas|first1=Sudipta|title=Dangal: Who is Mahavir Singh Phogat ?|url=http://www.india.com/sports/dangal-who-is-mahavir-singh-phogat-1716892/|access-date=28 December 2016|work=india.com|date=23 December 2016}}</ref>

==Details==
{| class="wikitable" style="width:55%;" cellspacing="2" cellpadding="2" border="0"
|- style="background:#aad0ff;"
!width=20%|Name
!width=18%|Date of Birth
!width=6%|Weight class
|-
| [[Geeta Phogat]] || {{Birth date and age|1988|12|15|df=y}} || 62 kg
|-
| [[Babita Kumari]] || {{Birth date and age|1989|11|20|df=y}} || 52 kg
|-
| [[Priyanka Phogat]] || {{Birth date and age|1993|5|12|df=y}} || 55 kg
|-
| [[Ritu Phogat]] || {{Birth date and age|1994|5|2|df=y}} || 48 kg
|-
| [[Vinesh Phogat]] || {{Birth date and age|1994|8|25|df=y}} || 48 kg
|-
| [[Sangita Phogat|Sangeeta Phogat]] || {{Birth date and age|1998|3|5|df=y}}|| 55 kg
|-
|}

==In popular culture==
The [[Bollywood]] film ''[[Dangal (film)|Dangal]]'', released in India on 23 December 2016, is based on the lives of Phogat sisters Geeta and Babita.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Basu|first1=Hindol|title=The hero behind 'Dangal'|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/The-hero-behind-Dangal/articleshow/47660174.cms|access-date=18 August 2016|work=The Times of India|date=14 June 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Singh|first1=Sat|title=Aamir Khan to host family of Phogat sisters|url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/haryana/aamir-khan-to-host-family-of-phogat-sisters/78091.html|access-date=18 August 2016|work=The Tribune|date=9 May 2015}}</ref> Wrestler [[Pooja Dhanda]] was screened and originally selected to play the role of Babita Phogat in ''Dangal'', which she could not play due to an injury.<ref name="dhan1">[https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/more-sports/wrestling/once-a-judoka-pooja-dhanda-wants-to-win-laurels-in-wrestling/articleshow/63067504.cms Once a judoka, Pooja Dhanda wants to win laurels in wrestling], [[Times of India]], 25 Feb 2018.</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Phogat sisters| ]]
[[Category:Sibling groups]]
[[Category:Sport wrestlers from Haryana]]
[[Category:Sportswomen from Haryana]]
[[Category:People from Bhiwani district]]

Phogat sisters - Revision history

2601:602:9200:A190:E1A9:153C:C44F:BC6E at 23:12, 2 April 2022