Grappler Vinesh Phogat's hopes of winning a bronze medal were dashed on Thursday as her quarter-final opponent Vanesa Kaladzinskaya of Belarus lost in the semi-final of the Tokyo Olympics. As a result of this loss, Vinesh's hopes of winning bronze through repechage was also dashed.
Earlier on Thursday, Vinesh Phogat lost in the quarterfinals of the women's Freestyle 53kg event at the Tokyo Olympics after going down against Belarus' Vanesa at the Makuhari Messe Hall A Mat B.
Vanesa Kaladzinskaya won against the 26-year-old Indian by pinning her on the mat (victory by fall). The number one seed Indian came under early pressure in the bout as the Belarusian took an early lead by 2-0. Vinesh soon equalised for 2-2 but in the same sequence, Kaladzinskaya grabbed two more points and later another point as the Indian trailed 2-5 going into the second half.
Chasing the bout, Vinesh started the final three minutes with more aggression but the European champion stood strong with firm defence. Kaladzinskaya gave no chance to Indian even after a successful review by Vinesh's side which saw one point for Indian and two points fewer for Vanesa.
Vinesh soon got pinned down by Kaladzinskaya in an absolutely brilliant move as she cruised into the semis of the event. Vinesh had progressed into the quarterfinals after defeating Sweden's Sofia Magdalena Mattsson by 7-1 in the 1/8 finals.
( With inputs from ANI )
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