Commonwealth Games
Commonwealth Games 2022: Why Vinesh Phogat will fight all 3 wrestlers in her bracket to win gold — Explained
What is the Nordic system in Wrestling? Vinesh Phogat will play three matches as she guns for her third consecutive CWG gold.
FILE PHOTO: Vinesh Phogat is in action at the Tokyo Olympics. (Photo credit: United World Wrestling)
Wrestling is the happy hunting ground for India. India claimed all six medals on the first day of Wrestling at the ongoing Commonwealth Games 2022. India won three gold, one silver and two bronze.
On Day 9, one of India's biggest medal hope, Vinesh Phogat will be playing. Vinesh will look to burn down the ghosts of the past and perform strongly to make a statement before Paris 2024 Olympics.
The interesting bit is the schedule of Vinesh Phogat's bouts show Nordic System instead of the usual knockouts format.
What is Nordic System?
Nordic System is applied to any wrestling category during tournaments when there are less than six participants taking part. In the Nordic system, every wrestler fights the other wrestlers in a round-robin format and at the end, the top three wrestlers win the medals.
At the ongoing Commonwealth Games 2022, the Women's 50 kg and 53 Kg weight category has fewer participants than six. Both Pooja Gehlot and Vinesh Phogat will fight in the Nordic system format instead of the traditional knockout format.
Vinesh Phogat's 53kg bracket has three other wrestlers, which will mean only one of the four will be without a medal.
She will play three of her matches - against Samantha Stewart (Canada), Mercy Bolafunoluwa Adekuoroye (Nigeria) and Chamodya Keshani Maduravalage Don (Sri Lanka) - over the course of the day on Saturday. Whichever of the four wrestlers have the most points after all the matches will win the gold medal.
In the Nordic tournament, the wrestler with the highest number of victories will be ranked first. If two wrestlers have an equal number of victories, their direct match will determine the ranking.
If more than two wrestlers have an equal number of victories, the last of the ex-aequo group will be determined following these criteria until only two wrestlers remain:
The fewest classification points
The fewest victories by Fall
The fewest match victories by superiority
The fewest technical points scored in the whole competition
The most technical points given in the whole competition
The highest draw number
With the absence of Japan, Vinesh is favourite to win her third consecutive gold medal at the CWG. She had won gold in the 48kg category in 2014, 50kg in 2018. She will now look to win the gold in the 53kg category.
