New Delhi [India], August 7 (ANI): The formidable Phogat sisters have won many laurels for India on the wrestling mat, and on Wednesday Vinesh Phogat will fight for Gold at the biggest stage of them all, the Olympics. Vinesh is in the final of the Women’s Freestyle 50 KG category and her cousin sister Babita says that her father Mahavir Singh Phogat has always dreamt her daughters would bring the medal for the country.
Vinesh has been coached by Mahavir Phogat since childhood. On Tuesday night she scripted history at the Paris Olympics after pulling off a dominating win over Cuba’s Yusneylis Guzman Lopez in the women’s 50kg wrestling semi-finals. Following a flawless outing on the mat, Vinesh became the first Indian to reach the Olympic final in women’s wrestling.
The Indian wrestler will now take on Ann Hildebrandt in the last and final match of this category at 12:30 AM IST on Thursday.
Speaking to ANI, Babita congratulated her sister Vinesh and said that it was a very proud day for the nation.
“It’s a proud day for the country. With the hard work that Vinesh and her supporting staff have done, everyone contributed to a player winning the medal for the country. I congratulate Vinesh, as she is the first women wrestler to reach the final at the Olympics… Her decision to fight in the 50 kg category, was a good move. She has won all her medals in this category. It’s a suitable category for her… My father dreamed that his daughters would win a medal at the Olympics, today it’s going to be fulfilled…” Babita told ANI.
Vinesh adopted an aggressive approach in the opening minutes of the bout. But the Cuban grappler stood firm with her defensive approach and didn’t allow Vinesh to take away any point.
Guzman Lopez was handed a passivity warning and had thirty seconds to score a point. Vinesh didn’t give her much of an opening and took the first point in the semi-final bout.
The Indian grappler maintained the slender one-point lead in the second half. She showed her aggression and managed to get Lopez in her grip. She turned her around and took a 5-0 lead. Towards the end, Lopez tried to turn things around with one final surge. Vinesh deflected the attacks that were thrown her way and stormed into the final to fight for gold.
Earlier in the day, Vinesh starred in the quarter-finals against Tokyo 2020 champion Yui Susaki of Japan.
Susaki was leading 1-0 at the end of the first period, but Vinesh made a brilliant turnaround in the second period, outdoing her Japanese opponent by miles to secure a 3-2 win to make way to the quarter-finals. She handed the Japanese wrestler her first defeat in 82 international matches.
In the quarterfinals against Ukraine’s Oksana Livach, Vinesh took a lead of 2-0 in the first period. However, Oksana managed to deliver a fight in the second period. But Vinesh, the World Championships medalist held off the challenge from Ukrainian and secured a semi-final berth. (ANI)
