Belgrade: Indian wrestler and Commonwealth Games 2022 gold medalist Vinesh Phogat captured a bronze medal in the women’s 53 kg category at the ongoing World Wrestling Championship 2022 in Belgrade on Wednesday, defeating reigning European champion Emma Malmgren from Sweden.
The three-time CWG gold medalist overpowered her Swedish opponent to win the match 8-0. She had won two of her repechage matches against Asian Games silver-medalist Zhuldyz Eshimova of Kazakhstan in the first repechage round and Azerbaijan’s Leyla Gurbanova. Gurbanova withdrew due to an injury.
Phogat, a 2019 world championships bronze medalist, was handed a shocking 7-0 defeat by 2022 Asian championships silver medalist Khulan Batkhuyag of Mongolia in the qualification round on Tuesday. Repechage round wins helped her get back into the competition and secure a medal.
This is her second bronze medal at the Championships. She had previously earned a podium position in the 2019 edition of the tournament at Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan.
She has opened her country’s medal tally at the 2022 edition of the championships. India’s u-23 bronze medalist Nisha Dahiya will also fight for bronze in the women’s 68 kg category after loss to U20 world champion Ami Ishii of Japan in the semis.
Nisha Dahiya had successfully defeated Lithuania’s Danute Domikaityte, Adela Hanzlickova of the Czech Republic and Bulgarian Sofiya Georgieva in her previous bouts before losing to Ami Ishii.