Wrestling World championships: Vinesh Phogat books place in 53kg repechage round

Vinesh Phogat booked a place in the women’s 53kg repechage round in the World wrestling championships in Belgrade on Tuesday.

In her quest for a second Worlds medal, Vinesh will be seen in action on Wednesday. | Photo Credit: Kadir Caliskan

Vinesh Phogat booked a place in the women’s 53kg repechage round in the World wrestling championships in Belgrade on Tuesday.

A 2019 World championships bronze medallist, Vinesh (53kg) was beaten by Asian silver medallist Khulan Batkhuyag 7-0 in the first round but got a second lease of life when the Mongolian managed to enter the final.

In her quest for a second Worlds medal, Vinesh will be seen in action on Wednesday.

Neelam Sirohi (50kg), Shafali (65kg) and Priyanka (76kg) also lost in preliminary rounds, but they could not make it to the medal race.

Neelam, who defeated Hungarian Szimonetta Szeker 4-2, was beaten convincingly by two-time Worlds silver medallist Romanian Emilia Vuc with a 10-0 verdict. Shafali was outsmarted by France's Koumba Larroque and Priyanka was trounced by Ecuador's Genesis Valdez with an identical 10-0 margin in first-round bouts.

Sushma Shokeen (55kg) was pinned by Moldova's Mariana Dagutan in the repechage round when the former was leading 8-6.