Vinesh Phogat wins bronze in World Championships

Belgrade: Vinesh Phogat on Wednesday became the first Indian woman wrestler to win two medals at the World Championships as she defeated Emma Joanna Malmgren of Sweden to win bronze in the 53kg here.

28-year-old Vinesh had also won a bronze medal in the 2019 edition in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan.

It was a remarkable comeback for Vinesh after a loss in the qualification round as she defeated Malmgren 8-0 in the bronze medal round.

She made it to the bronze play-off via the repechage round after losing to Mongolia’s Khulan Batkhuyag, the 2022 Asian Championships silver medalist, in her first bout on Tuesday.

Triple Commonwealth Games champion Vinesh made it to the repechage round after reaching the final of Bathukyag.

In the repechage round, Vinesh first defeated Zuldiz Ashimova of Kazakhstan in a fall (4–0) decision victory and then went on to win the next match when her rival Leyla Gurbanova of Azerbaijan progressed to the bronze medal round due to injury. Couldn’t move forward. ,

Originally published at Pen 18