Vinesh Phogat reaches wrestling semifinal at Paris Olympics

Vinesh Phogat reached the semifinals of the women’s 50kg freestyle wrestling event by beating Ukraine’s three-time CWG gold-medallist Oksana Livach 7-5 at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday. This is Vinesh’s maiden Olympic semifinal. She will now face Cuba’s Yusneylys Guzman for a place in the final. Guzman is the gold medallist at the Pan American Games 2023.

Earlier, Vinesh stunned Japan’s Yui Susaki 3-2 to qualify for quarters. The Japanese wrestler was the reigning Olympic champion and four-time World Champion. She had won gold at the Tokyo Games without conceding a single point.

Vinesh had locked her Paris Olympics quota in women’s 50kg category by reaching the final at the Asian Olympic qualifier earlier this year. She beat Laura Ganikyzy in the semifinal.

Vinesh was eliminated in the quarterfinals at both Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020. At Rio 2016, she suffered an ACL injury during her match and was forced to retire. With her three Olympic Games appearances, she now has appeared in the most Olympic Games of any female Indian wrestler.