Sakshi loses in quarters, injury ends Vinesh’s campaign

Rio de Janeiro, Aug 17 (PTI) Indian woman wrestler SakshiMalik lost in the quarterfinals of 58kg while Vinesh Phogatwas stretchered off after suffering a knee dislocation duringher quarterfinal bout at the Rio Olympics here today. Vinesh’s campaign is over after she retired hurtfollowing a dislocation of her right knee half-way into thefirst period of her 48kg quarterfinal fight against China’sSun Yanan. First point of the quarterfinal bout went to Vinesh withher Chinese opponent showing passivity but Sun Yanan soon hitback with a single-leg takedown to earn two points. TheChinese suddenly pinned the Indian down in an awkward positionand Vinesh sustained an injury to her right knee, which forcedher to forfeit the bout 1-2. The 21-year-old, who was touted as a medal prospect forIndia, was seen grimacing in pain as she was treated for aboutfive minutes before being stretchered off for medicaltreatment. She would not be able to fight in the repechage roundeven if the Chinese reach the final of 48kg. "We all are awaiting MRI report but she cannot fightagain," India’s Chef de Mission, Rakesh Gupta said. "It seems she has dislocated her right knee. The medicalscan will exactly reveal the nature of the injury," coachKuldeep Singh told PTI, giving a preliminary update. Meanwhile, Sakshi went down in the quarterfinals of 58kgafter losing 2-9 to Valeria Koblova of Russia. Earlier, shehad made strong comebacks in both her initial round bouts toadvance to the quarterfinals. After conceding one point in the first period of herquarterfinal fight because of passivity, Sakshi did well toearn two points in the second period with a take-down. But the Russian girl, with enormous strength, hit back topocket four points before gaining another two to take a 7-2lead. She earned two points again to win the bout 9-2 and makethe semifinals. If the Russian manages to reach the gold-medal bout,Sakshi will get a shot at the bronze with a chance to fight inthe repechage round. After coming back from a 0-4 down to post animpressive 5-4 win over her Swedish opponent — Malin JohannaMattsson — in the qualification round, Sakshi eked out anarrow 5-5 win against Mariana Cherdivara Esanu of Republic ofMoldova in the pre-quarters. In the opening period of the pre-quarterfinal bout,Sakshi got 30 seconds to earn points but she failed and thatgave Cherdivara a point. PTI TAP CM BSBS