Paris Olympics: Vinesh Phogat becomes first Indian woman grappler to reach finals

PTI, Aug 7, 2024, 8:07 AM IST

Paris: Vinesh Phogat (50kg) became the first Indian woman wrestler to reach the final of the Olympic Games with a convincing 5-0 win over Cuba’s Yusneylis Guzman Lopez here on Tuesday.

With this win in the semifinal, Vinesh guaranteed herself at least a silver medal.

Both wrestlers got off to a cautious start but a passivity clock on Lopez meant that Vinesh got on the board with one technical point after the Cuban didn’t take a risk.

Vinesh was leading 1-0 at the end of the first period.

She extended her dominance in the second period with four more points to seal the bout in her favour.

Earlier, Vinesh entered the semifinals on the back of two incredible wins, against reigning Olympic champion Yui Susaki of Japan and Ukraine’s eighth seed Oksana Livach on a memorable day for the combative Indian grappler.

She faced a quarter-final exit in the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 editions.