Kripa Shankar Patel Bishnoi (born 5 August 1977) is an Indian professional wrestler and coach.

Kripa Shankar Patel Bishnoi
Personal information
Native nameकृपाचंद पटेल बिश्नोई
Full nameKripa Shankar Patel
Nationality india
Born (1977-08-05) 5 August 1977 (age 47)
Indore City, Indore district, Madhya Pradesh, India
Height165 cm (5 ft 5 in) (2017)[1]
Weight55 kg (121 lb) (2010)[1]
Sport
CountryIndia
Event55 kg freestyle
ClubMaster Chandgiram Akhara, Delhi
TeamIndian Wrestling Team
Coached byMaster Chandgi Ram ji & Shivram Patel
Achievements and titles
National finals"Arjuna Award winners"

Biography

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Kripa Shankar Patel Bishnoi was born on 5 August 1977, in Khandwa (district of Harsud tehsil in Madhya Pradesh). He completed a diploma course in sports coaching at the Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports (India).[2] He passed the United World Wrestling International Referee Course with distinction in 2016. Subsequently, Bishnoi was named to United World Wrestling's international panel of referees.[3][4]

Wrestling career

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He has participated in 53 international wrestling competitions, winning 11 gold, 8 silver, and 5 bronze medals.[citation needed]

Mr. Patel represented India in Asian cadet wrestling competition held from 3 to 5 December 1989 and by beating the Iranian wrestler K.D. Mohammad with a great score of 8/1 established his first step in international wrestling scenario and then always remained glittering in the whole world representing India. Bishnoi passed the Level-1 coaching course organised under the aegis of Wrestling Federation of India and United World Wrestling (UWW) in the year 2024. He has also rejoined the coaching panel of Wrestling Federation of India.

Commonwealth Games

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Competing in the Flyweight division, Bishnoi was a bronze medalist at the 15th edition of the Commonwealth Games.

Commonwealth Wrestling Championship Events

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Bishnoi competed in Commonwealth Wrestling Championship tournaments, achieving medals in multiple disciplines. He is the only wrestler who made a world record of winning 2 golds in 1 competition but in different categories (freestyle wrestling and Greco-Roman wrestling).[citation needed] 2003 (London, Canada)

Silver medal –

2005 (Cape Town, South Africa)

Gold medal – under 55 weight category, Freestyle wrestling
Gold medal – under 55 weight category, Greco-Roman wrestling

2007 (London, Canada)

Gold medal – Freestyle wrestling
Silver medal – Greco-Roman wrestling[5]

Olympic Qualifying Events

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Bishnoi represented India four times in Olympic qualifying tournaments: 2000, Leipzig, Germany, 5th place; 2000, Tokyo, Japan, 10th place; 2000, Minsk, Belarus; 2008, Warsaw, Poland. He also competed at World Cup events in Canada, winning gold in 2003 and 2007. In Canada World Cup Mr. Patel competed with all wrestlers and proved to be a perfectionist in his sport by winning a gold in Canada World Cup (11 to 12 July 2003, Canada).

Asian Competitions

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Bishnoi competed in the 1998 Asian Games (Bangkok, Thailand) and 2002 Asian Games (Bussan, South Korea),[citation needed] and in the Asian Wrestling Championships, placing 4th in 2000 (Gulin, China), 4th in 2001 (Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia), and earning a bronze medal in 2003 Asian Wrestling Championships (New Delhi, India).[6] Bishnoi won gold medals at the 7th, 8th, and 9th editions of the South Asian Games.[citation needed]

Awards

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In 2000, Bishnoi received the Arjuna Award in recognition of outstanding National (India) achievement in sport.[7] In 1994 he was a recipient of the Vikram Award.[citation needed]

Coaching

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After retiring from wrestling competition, Bishnoi served as coach for Indian female wrestlers at the senior national coaching camp, contributing to a 2016 bronze medal in women's wrestling in 2016 Summer Olympics for India.[citation needed] Bishnoi is also a referee.[8]

Bollywood career

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Bishnoi was recruited to train Aamir Khan, Fatima Sana Shaikh, Sanya Malhotra, and supporting actors for the Bollywood movie Dangal.[9] The film is based on the life of renowned Indian wrestler Mahavir Singh Phogat, who coached his daughters, Geeta Phogat and Babita Kumari to gold medals at the 2010 Commonwealth Games. Working with the actors for over six months prior to filming, Bishnoi focused on wrestling moves and general conditioning.[10] The film was 2017's highest-grossing sports film worldwide.[11][12] Following the film's release, Bishnoi defended Khan against allegations that the actor has used steroids during his physical training regime.[13]

Controversy

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In 2017, the Wrestling Federation of India imposed a six-year ban on Bishnoi, following Bishnoi's criticism of the organization.[14] Bishnoi has become an advocate and vocal proponent of changes he has proposed for regulations governed by the (Indian) National and International wrestling federations.[15][16][17][5]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Kripa Shankar Patel Bishnoi profile – 2017". dangal2016.com. Retrieved 18 August 2017.[dead link]
  2. ^ "Dangal wrestling trainer teaching to children". News18.com. 3 May 2017.
  3. ^ "'Dangal' Coach Kripa Shankar Bishnoi Becomes International match Referee". News18. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
  4. ^ "Interview with wrestler Kripa Shankar Patel Bishnoi – the man who has been training Aamir in wrestling". patrika.com. 2016.
  5. ^ a b "Kripa Shankar for change in Greco Roman wrestling rules". Punjabi News Express. 12 May 2017. Archived from the original on 5 August 2017.
  6. ^ "Indian Wrestler Kripa Shanker holds". gettyimages.co.uk. 5 June 2003.
  7. ^ "List of Arjuna Awardees" (PDF). Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. Archived (PDF) from the original on 31 October 2022. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  8. ^ "'Dangal coach' becomes international match referee". The Indian Express. 1 March 2017.
  9. ^ Sinha, Saloni (23 December 2016). "The muscle behind Dangal: Kripa Shankar Bishnoi". The New Indian Express. Archived from the original on 24 December 2016.
  10. ^ "Nine Times 'Sports Heroes' Trained Bollywood Actors for the Big Screen". mid-day.com. 6 January 2017.
  11. ^ Cain, Rob (19 June 2017). "How An Indian Drama Became The World's Highest-Grossing Sports Movie of 2017". Forbes.
  12. ^ "MP: Arjun awardee wrestler trains Aamir Khan for Dangal". Hindustan Times. 11 July 2016.
  13. ^ "Claims that Aamir Khan used steroids are nonsense: Dangal wrestling coach Kripa Shankar Bishnoi". The Indian Express. 8 December 2016. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  14. ^ Hussein, Sabi (14 September 2017). "Coach equates WFI with a mule, faces ban". The Tribune. New Delhi. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  15. ^ "Kripa Shankar for change in Greco Roman wrestling rules". 11 May 2017. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  16. ^ Chacko, Saji (27 May 2017). "Coach Kripa has valid suggestions". Sunday Guardian Live.
  17. ^ "Former India wrestler Kripa Shankar Bishnoi suggests key changes to world body". Zee News. 24 May 2017.