Wrestling
Tokyo Olympics: Vinesh Phogat loses; hopes 'pinned' on Repechage
Vinesh Phogat has failed to advance to the semifinal at the Tokyo Olympics after falling to victory by fall against Belarusian Vanesa Kaladzinskaya.
Vinesh Phogat against Vanesa Kaladzinskaya in quarterfinal bout at Tokyo Olympics (Source: Reuters)
India's star wrestler and World Number 1 Vinesh Phogat has failed to advance to the semifinal of Women's 53kg at the Tokyo Olympics after falling to victory by fall against Belarusian Vanesa Kaladzinskaya.
Vinesh Phogat seemed to be no match to the Belarusian as she went into the break 2-5 down after the first half.
The 26-year-old gave it her all during the second half, but Kaladzinskaya someone managed to thwart off the Indian attack. Vinesh fell prey to some brilliant counterattacks from the Belarusian, which eventually led to her being pinned with the score reading 3-7 in the favour of Kaladzinskaya.
This loss means that the 26-year-old Indian will now have to wait and hope that Vanesa Kaladzinskaya makes it to the final in order to have a shot at the bronze medal via repechage.
Earlier Vinesh had defeated the 2016 Rio Olympics bronze medallist from Sweden, Sofia Mattson, in her pre-quarterfinal bout. The Swedish was no match to the Indian, who relied just on her counterattacking skills to win 7-1 and advance to the next round.
