Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat made it to the semifinals of the women’s 50 kg freestyle category at the Paris Olympics after she secured a win in the quarterfinals over Ukraine’s Oksana Livach on Tuesday.
Phogat defeated Oksana by 7-5 and now is just one more win away from a confirmed medal, as per Olympics.com.
In the QFs, Vinesh took a lead of 2-0 in the first period. However, Oksana managed to deliver a fight in the second period. But Vinesh, the World Championships medalist, held off the challenge from Ukrainian and secured a semifinal berth.
Vinesh’s next opponent will be either Cuba’s Yusneylis Guzman Lopez, a Pan American Games champion.
The ace Indian wrestler delivered a brilliant start to her Paris Olympics campaign as she defeated the top seed and the Tokyo 2020 champion Yui Susaki of Japan in the women’s 50kg freestyle round of 16 match on Tuesday.
Susaki was leading 1-0 at the end of the first period, but Vinesh made a brilliant turnaround in the second period, outdoing her Japanese opponent by miles to secure a 3-2 win to make way to QFs.
Yui is not only the defending champion but also a three-time world champion in the 50 kg freestyle category and the current Asian champion.