Grapplers Vinesh, Anshu seal Paris Olympics quota
Vinesh, one of the main faces of the wrestlers’ protest last year, defeated Kazakhstan’s Laura Ganikyzy in the 50kg semifinal to inch closer to competing at her third straight Olympics.
A dominant Vinesh Phogat won her first gold medal of the 2020 season at the Rome Ranking Series event after teen sensation Anshu Malik settled for a silver in 57kg competition, here on Friday.
Vinesh downed two tough Chinese rivals on her way to the 53kg gold medal bout in which she overpowered Ecudor’s Luisa Elizabeth Valverde 4-0.
Showing immense upper body strength, Vinesh had rattled her rival with shoulder pulls, never allowing her to attack.
Advertisement
She won by technical superiority against Khrystyna Bereza (10-0) and Lannuan Luo (15-5) before getting the better of Qianyu Pang (4-2).
If the win against Ukrainian Bereza was about spectacular double leg attacks, the quarterfinal win over the Luo was much tougher than the what the score-line suggested. Luo was a strong opponent, who led 5-2 at the end of first period but Vinesh turned it around with smart point-scoring moves from nowhere in the second period.
Twice she threw Luo with moves from between the legs when the Chinese was holding her from the back.
With two wrestlers, having immense upper-body strength, jostling for upper hand from standing position was a sight to watch.
Fighting a measured bout against Pang, Vinesh was in control in the semi-final, With two takedowns in each period she led 4-0 and conceded points only towards the end of the fight.
Advertisement
