Vinesh Phogat suffered a loss to Vanesa Kaladzinskaya in the women’s freestyle 53kg wrestling event and she will be hoping that the Belarrusian reaches the final so that she can enter the repechage round.
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India’s fortunes in Tokyo Olympics 2020 continued to progress like a roller-coaster ride. After the high of Ravi Dahiya’s final and the brilliance of the men’s hockey team to win bronze, there was some bad news for India in wrestling. After Anshu Malik failed to win her repechage match, the No.1 seed and India’s ultimate medal hopeful Vinesh Phogat suffered a shocking loss. Phogat, wrestling in the quarterfinal of the women’s 53kg freestyle event, was beaten 9-3 by Belarus’ Vanesa Kaladzinskaya.
The loss means that Vinesh’s dream for gold has been dashed. It is equally disappointing, considering how Vinesh’s chances for a medal were cruelly dashed in Rio Olympics 2016 due to injury. But, entering into the contest, the odds were heavily stacked. Kalandzinskaya has more experience than Vinesh Phogat, having competed in the 2012 London Olympics. In addition, the Belarusian is a two-time world championship winner while she has been winning gold, silver and bronze in the European championships since 2017.
In her first match against Sweden’s Sofia Magdalena Mattsson, Phogat put on an exhibition to win the bout 7-1. Against Kalandzinskaya, she made a bad start and was already trailing 5-2 before the break. The Belarussian opened the scoring but Vinesh immediately fought back. But, Kalandzinskaya managed to hold on to the lead.
Kalandzinskaya took a 7-2 lead and hope was fading fast for the Indian wrestler. However, the Indian challenged the call and the lead remained at 5-3. With 35 seconds left on the clock, Vinesh was pinned to the mat and Kalandzinskaya managed to win the match. This means that Vinesh could still be in contention for bronze. But, for that to happen, Kalandzinskaya has to reach the final.
But, it will not be easy for the Belarussian as she faces China’s Pang Qianyu. The Chinese is a two-time bronze medal winner in the World Championships that were held in Budapest and Nur Sultan in 2018 and 2019. The Chinese grappler won the gold medal in the 2016 Asian Championships in Bangkok. With so much success at such a young age, Pang Qianyu is a worthy opponent. Even if Vinesh makes it to the repechage, she may to have to face Pang for bronze.
Ravi Dahiya is India’s brightest hope for gold when he wrestles in the final against Zavur Uguev. But, his mission for gold is really herculean. Uguev is the defending and two-time World Champion and the defending and four-time Russian National Champion. In the Individual World Cup in Belgrade in 2020, Uguev won the gold in that as well.
Apart from Ravi Dahiya, Bajrang Punia is one of the other medal contenders and his journey will begin on August 6. Deepak Punia, who also missed out on gold medal contention, will also be aiming for bronze when he plays the repechage round. India could end up with a total of six medals if the wrestlers perform to potential. The Tokyo Olympics will end on August 8, with India’s events ending on August 7.
