How can wrestler Anshu Malik still win a medal at the Tokyo Olympics?

While if it was any other sport losing in the very first round of a knockout format event would have meant the end of the athlete's campaign, but not in Wrestling, not in Tokyo.

The 19-year-old Anshu Malik, despite losing her first round, still has a chance of returning with a medal from the Tokyo Olympics.

But, how?

Read on to find out.

As per the rules, any wrestler who losses against either of the eventual finalists of the event will get a shot at winning the bronze medal in what is called a repechage round.

Here, the entry of Iryna Kurachkina to the final of the Women's 57kg weight division means that Anshu Malik will have a shot at winning the bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics.

How can Anshu Malik still win a medal?

Since Anshu Malik lost the very first round against the Belarusian, she will have to play and win two bouts to bag the third position at the Makuhari Messe Hall in Tokyo.

First, she will be up against the Russian Olympic Committee's (ROC) Valeria Koblova, who was defeated by Kurachkina in the quarterfinal in match 1 of the repechage.

Only if she manages to beat Koblova will Anshu advance to repechage match 2; else it will be the end of her Olympic dream.

Now, the second repechage is basically the bronze medal match or the third-place playoff.

In this round, the Indian will face Bulgaria's Evelina Nikolova, who fell to a defeat against Iryna Kurachkina in the semifinal, with a place on the podium at stake.

When will these repechage matches happen?

Both the repechage matches will be conducted tomorrow, i.e. 6th August 2021, at 7:30 am IST.