Vinesh Phogat storms into the 50kg women’s freestyle wrestling quarter-finals
Vinesh Phogat defeated Tokyo Olympics gold medalist Yui Susaki of Japan to strom into the Women’s 50kg freestyle wrestling quarter-finals.
Vinesh Phogat stunned the wrestling world with a major upset in the first round of Women’s 50kg wrestling round of 16 upstaging the reigning Olympic gold-medallist Yui Susaki. The Japanese won the gold at Tokyo Games without conceding a single point and interestingly, never lost a match in her international career. But Vinesh put an end to her winning streak on Tuesday.
Trailing 0-2 after conceding penalty points for passivity, the Indian wrestler came back brilliantly in the last five seconds to take down the top seed by clinching three points to win 3-2.
The star Indian grappler will now compete against Ukraine’s Oksana Livach in the quarter-finals later in the day.
The 29-year-old Vinesh had spent considerable time away from the mat last year while leading a protest against former Wrestling Federation of India head Brij Bhushan Singh Sharan, after accusing him of sexual misconduct.
She had failed to win a medal in her two previous Olympic appearances. Vinesh started off on a cautious note, occasionally trying to unsettle Susaki with a push-back on the head. However, at the stroke of the first round, she conceded a point for passivity and it could have been 0-3 when she nearly lost her footing. But the Indian managed to defend herself.
When the second round started, Vinesh surprisingly didn’t change her tactics and was down 0-2 after conceding a second passivity point to one of the living legends of this weight category. Just when it seemed that it was all over for her, there was a last gasp inspirational takedown by the Indian star, who also pushed Susaki out of the mat before pinning her on the back to get two points.
An ecstatic Vinesh was emotional as he sprinted towards her corner and hugged her coach Woller Akos and then let out an emotional war cry. However, the Japanese team challenged the decision and since it was overturned, Vinesh got another point causing the final score-line to read 3-2 in her favour.
(With Agency Inputs)
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Read More: Paris Olympics: Vinesh Phogat Stuns Top-seed Yui Susaki in Women’s 50kg Wrestling – News18
