Anuj Kumar Chaudhary (born 5 August 1980; also known as Anuj Chaudhry) is a retired amateur Indian freestyle wrestler, who competed in the men's light heavyweight category. He achieved top ten finishes in the 74-kg division at the

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation (AGF) from the first Games in New Delhi, India, until t ...

(2002 and 2006), scored two silver medals at the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

(2002 and 2010) and two bronze at the

Asian Wrestling Championships Asian Wrestling Championships is the Wrestling Asian Championship organized by the Asian Associated Wrestling Committee (AAWC). The men's tournament began in 1979 and The women's tournament was first staged in 1996, and it has been held every year. ...

, and also represented his nation

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

. Before his sporting career ended in 2010, Kumar trained at Guru Hanuman Akhara. Kumar reached sporting headlines at the

2002 Commonwealth Games The 2002 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XVII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Manchester 2002 were held in Manchester, England, from 25 July to 4 August, 2002. The 2002 Games were to be hosted in the United Kingdom to coin ...

in Manchester, England, where he claimed a silver medal in the 84-kg division, losing out to Canada's Nicholas Ugoalah by a tough 4–1 verdict. On that same year, he competed for the Indian wrestling team at the

Busan, South Korea Busan (), officially known as is South Korea's most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.4 million inhabitants. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economic, cultural and educational center of southeastern South Korea, w ...

, but left the tournament empty-handed and injured. At the

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, Kumar qualified for his first Indian squad in the men's 84 kg class. Earlier in the process, he placed third and guaranteed a spot on the Indian wrestling team from the Olympic Qualification Tournament in

Sofia, Bulgaria Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...

. He lost two straight matches each to Iran's

Majid Khodaei Majid Khodaei ( fa, مجید خدایی, born 26 August 1978 in Mashhad) is an Iranian former wrestler. Other Tournaments He participated at the following other tournaments: *2001 World Wrestling Championships The following is the f ...

(1–5) and Japan's Hidekazu Yokoyama (5–11), leaving him on the bottom of the prelim pool and placing sixteenth in the final standings. Shortly after the Games, Kumar ended his medal drought by picking up a bronze at the

2005 Asian Wrestling Championships The 2005 Asian Wrestling Championships were held in Wuhan, China. The event took place from May 24 to May 29, 2005. Medal table Team ranking Medal summary Men's freestyle Men's Greco-Roman Women's freestyle Participating nations 215 c ...

Wuhan, China Wuhan (, ; ; ) is the capital of Hubei Province in the People's Republic of China. It is the largest city in Hubei and the most populous city in Central China, with a population of over eleven million, the ninth-most populous Chinese city and ...

, and continued to repeat the same outcome in Pattaya, Thailand four years later. He also sought his bid to compete for the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, but failed to attain the bid from the Olympic Tournament. When India hosted the

2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games (Hindi: 2010 राष्ट्रमण्डल खेल), officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, was an international multi-sport event that was held in Delhi, India, f ...

in his native

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

, Kumar lost his final match to neighboring Pakistan's

Muhammad Inam Muhammad Inam Butt (born 27 February 1989) is a Pakistani professional wrestling, wrestler. He won the country's second gold medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, bronze medal at the 2014 Asian Beach Games, gold medal at the 2016 South Asian G ...

by a 4–3 decision, and received a silver medal with his home crowd inside

Indira Gandhi Arena The K. D. Jadhav Indoor Hall, formerly known as the Indraprashtha Stadium and Indira Gandhi Arena (officially Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium), is located at the Indraprastha Estate in the eastern region of New Delhi. It is the largest indoor are ...

. Following another medal record, Kumar retired from competitive wrestling career to focus on his personal life. Currently, he is serving as Deputy Superintendent (DSP) in UP Police.

References

External links

Profile – International Wrestling Database
1980 births Living people Indian male sport wrestlers Olympic wrestlers for India Wrestlers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 2002 Asian Games Wrestlers at the 2006 Asian Games Wrestlers at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Wrestlers at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games silver medallists for India Sport wrestlers from Uttar Pradesh Commonwealth Games medallists in wrestling Asian Games competitors for India People from Muzaffarnagar district Recipients of the Arjuna Award 21st-century Indian people Medallists at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2010 Commonwealth Games {{India-wrestling-bio-stub