Wrestler Vinesh Phogat ensured India of at least a silver medal after storming into the finals of the women’s freestyle 50 kilogram category at the 2018 Asian Games on Monday.
Vinesh hardly broke into a sweat in her semifinal encounter against Daulatbike Yakshimuratova of Uzbekistan, as the referees took just 75 seconds to declare the Indian the winner by technical superiority (10-0).
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Vinesh had earlier registered a comfortable 11-0 victory over South Korea’s Kim Hyungjoo in the quarterfinals, after defeating China’s Sun Yanan by technical superiority 8-2 in the 1/8 finals.
But the other Indians in the fray - Sakshi Malik and Pooja Dhanda - failed to win their respective semifinal ties and can now hope only for a bronze.
Up against two-time World Championships medallist North Korea’s Jong Myong Suk, India’s Pooja went down 0-10 meekly in the women’s 57kg category.
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In the 62kg category, Sakshi was up against her old nemesis Aisuluu Tynybekova of Kyrgyzstan, whom she beat at the Rio Olympics to clinch the bronze.
Sakshi started with a 4-0 lead before Aisuluu came back strongly to first reduce the deficit to 2-4 and then took four straight points to turn the tables and lead 6-4.
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After the breather, Sakshi managed to get a point, thanks to a penalty before adding four more points for a takedown from standing position.
But a challenge from the Kyrgyzstan grappler reduced Sakshi’s lead to just a point but there was more drama in store as Aisuluu picked two more points to close the contest with a slender 8-7 win.
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