Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat started her Paris Olympics campaign with a bang. The Indian grappler defeated Tokyo Olympics gold medallist and world champion Yui Susaki of Japan in the round of 16 by 3-2. With this win, she makes her place into the quarterfinals. This victory marks Susaki’s first-ever defeat in 95 matches against non-Japanese opponents.
Vinesh will face eighth seed Oksana Livach of Ukraine in the quarterfinals.
The match between Japan’s Yui Susaki and Vinesh Phogat started slowly, with both grapplers making few significant moves initially. Vinesh became passive and received multiple warnings from the referee.
As Vinesh became more defensive, the referee awarded the first point to Yui, as Vinesh failed to score within the 30-second window.
After Yui scored the first point, the Japanese player became more active. However, Vinesh performed well defensively and prevented her opponent from adding to her score. After the first three minutes, the score was 1-0.
In the last two minutes, Vinesh received another warning, and the Japanese grappler earned another point. It seemed like the Indian wrestler might lose the match. However, the game changed in the final 10 seconds.
Vinesh became more aggressive and pushed Yui outside the area, earning two points. Later the referee rewarded one more point to Vinesh and she wins it by 3-2.
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