2019 World Wrestling Championship: Vinesh Phogat wins India's first medal

India's ace female wrestler Vinesh Phogat wins her maiden silverware by claiming a bronze medal after she defeated Maria Prevolaraki of Greece by a 4-1 scoreline at the 2019 Wrestling Championship in Nur Sultan, Kazakhstan.

Earlier today, Vinesh went on to win India's 53kg spot at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics after she defeated USA's Sarah Ann Hilderbrandt in the second repechage round. It was India's first wrestling berth for Tokyo Olympics 2020. She thrashed the 2018 silver medallist Sarah 8-2 only to secure herself a berth at the 2020 Games. Before this encounter, Vinesh defeated Ukraine's Yuliia Blahinya 5-0 in the first repechage round after being pushed out of the title race on Tuesday. However, she suffered a pre-quarterfinal defeat against reigning champion Mayu Mukaida of Japan at the World Championship here.

Vinesh, the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games gold medallist, started off her campaign at the event with a commendable 13-0 win over Olympic bronze medallist Sweden’s Sofia Mattsson but then faced the reigning world champion Mayu Mukaida of Japan who defeated the Indian 7-0. However, Vinesh won a lifeline through the repechage round as she reached the final of the grand event.

While it has been a spectacular career for Vinesh with gold medals at the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games, none of her three attempts at the World Championship led to a podium finish.

In the 59kg category, Pooja Danda went down against Russia's 2017 European Champion Liubov Ovcharova 0-10, and will fight for the bronze medal on Thursday. A bronze tomorrow will make Pooja the first Indian woman wrestler to win two medals at the World Championship. She finished with a bronze medal in 2018 in Budapest.