Phogat will now set her eyes to winning her third gold medal this year after winning one each in Matteo Pellicone and the Asian Championship.
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Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat reached the 53kg final of the Poland Open in Warsaw on Friday after securing two victories in very contrasting matches. Phogat had to face 2019 World bronze medal winner Ekaterina Poleshchuk in her opening match, followed by America’s Amy Ann Fearnside. Phogat’s performance in the Polish wrestling competition is an amazing sign for India’s medal aspirations at the upcoming Tokyo Olympics. She seems to have firmly overcome her 2016 heartbreak and is one of the favourites to win a medal at this year’s Games. Phogat will now set her eyes to winning her third gold medal this year. She had won the previous two in Matteo Pellicone in March, and the Asian Championship in April.
Phogat was in for a challenging first-round match against former bronze medalist Poleshchuk. The Russian was strong on the defence. Phogat had gone for a left-led attack initially but Poleshchuk read through the move and managed to skillfully counter it. She dropped Phogat and took a 2-0 lead. Throughout the first period, Poleshchuk kept her lead. Phogat tried to take her down with another move right before the break but failed to execute it. Things were looking troublesome for the Indian wrestler.
However, Vinesh turned the tables in the second period. She leveled up the score with a beautiful double-leg attack right at the beginning of the period. Luck also seemed to be on the Indian’s side as she was awarded two pints due to a technical violation by the Russian. Phogat had turned the match around to gain a 4-2 advantage. Poleshchuk was also cautioned.
The match did not go on for much longer as Phogat confirmed her victory with another takedown, making the score 6-2, and advancing to the next round.
Phogat’s coaches might have been worried about the wrestler’s stamina after participating in such a grueling match. They might have even predicted that it was only going to get more challenging. However, that was not the case. The second-round match was the exact opposite of the first.
Phogat would face American wrestler Amy Ann Fearnside. She is a quality wrestler in her own right, ranked number 3 on Team USA in the 50kg/110lbs category. Phogat herself might have predicted a tough match.
The match, however, was over in just over a minute. Phogat pinned Fearnside in just 75 seconds. And by that time, she was already leading by a massive margin of 6-0. She will go into the final of the competition hoping to clinch her third gold medal of the year. If she succeeds, it will be a massive boost for her confidence ahead of the Olympic Games.
In the same competition, Olympic-bound Indian wrestler Ravi Dahiya settled for a silver medal after failing to beat Uzbekistan’s Gulomjon Abdullaev in the final on Wednesday. Dahiya had beaten the Uzbek in the opening round of the competition, but a silver medal will still be a massive confidence booster for the Indian wrestler ahead of the Olympics.
