Seasoned Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat defeated Lopez Guzman of Cuba at the Women’s Freestyle 50kg semi-finals in Paris 2024 on Tuesday to book herself a spot in the final.
The 2022 World Championships bronze medallist became the first-ever Indian woman wrestler to make it to an Olympics final. She will be vying for an eighth medal in wrestling for India at the Olympics and a first-ever gold. Rio 2016 bronze medallist Sakshi Malik (58 kg) was the last Indian woman wrestler to win a medal at the Games.
It takes a village – Vinesh PHOGAT 🇮🇳 talking to her mother after becoming the first Indian to reach Olympic final in women’s wrestling#uww #wrestling #wrestleparis #olympics #paris2024 pic.twitter.com/Kh5SDCVR3T
— United World Wrestling (@wrestling) August 6, 2024
The bout between Vinesh and Guzman began on an even note with both wrestlers failing to make a head start. The Indian wrestler earned the first point on the mat after a 30-second penalty was inflicted on the Cuban wrestler and she failed to score. She added four more points to her tally in the second phase when the penalty was imposed on her to clinch the bout by technical superiority.
Her coach Woller Akos was moved into tears after the historic triumph as Phogat celebrated with a folded hands gesture on the mat. She will take on the winner of the bout between three-time World Champion Dolgorjavyn Otgonjargal or Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist Sarah Ann Hildebrandt in the final on Wednesday.
Although Phogat stamped her authority in the semi-finals; she had overturned a 0:2 deficit against Tokyo 2020 gold medallist Yui Susaki of Japan to clinch a 3:2 victory in the dying minutes of the Paris 2024 quarter-finals.
