Pooja Dhanda is an Indian freestyle wrestler from Haryana who competes in the women's 57 kg category. She first gained national attention as a youth wrestler and later established herself on the senior international circuit, winning a bronze medal at the 2018 World Wrestling Championships and a silver at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
| Full name | Pooja Dhanda |
|---|---|
| Born | 1994 |
| Place of birth | Hisar district, Haryana, India |
| Sport | Wrestling (freestyle) |
| Weight category | 57 kg (also competed in 55 kg and 59 kg earlier) |
| Country | India |
| Notable medals | 2018 World Championships bronze; 2018 Commonwealth Games silver |
Pooja Dhanda hails from Budana village in the Hisar district of Haryana, a region that has produced a large share of India's wrestling talent. She initially trained in judo before switching to freestyle wrestling, and developed her game through the akhara and school sports system in Haryana.
Dhanda emerged as a leading junior wrestler in the early 2010s. She won a silver medal at the 2013 World Junior Wrestling Championships in the 59 kg category, one of the early indicators of her potential at the senior level. Injuries and a knee operation interrupted her progress in the years that followed, and she returned to competition after an extended rehabilitation.
At the 2018 Commonwealth Games held in Gold Coast, Australia, Dhanda won the silver medal in the women's 57 kg freestyle event. Later in the same year, she claimed a bronze medal at the World Wrestling Championships in Budapest, Hungary, becoming one of the few Indian women wrestlers to medal at the senior World Championships.
She has also competed at major continental events including the Asian Wrestling Championships and Asian Games, and has been a regular in the Indian squad for ranking series tournaments organised under United World Wrestling.
Dhanda is regarded as a technically sound wrestler with a strong defensive base, attributed in part to her early training in judo. Her World Championships bronze in 2018 placed her among a small group of Indian women wrestlers — alongside athletes such as Geeta Phogat, Babita Phogat, Sakshi Malik and Vinesh Phogat — to win medals at senior global wrestling events, contributing to the rapid growth of women's wrestling in India during the 2010s.