Tokyo Olympics: Indian Wrestler Vinesh Phogat enter Quarter Finals defeating Sofia Mattsson

By: WE Staff | Thursday, 5 August 2021

India's strong medal contender Vinesh Phogat knocked out Rio Olympics bronze medalist Sofia Mattsson of Sweden to advance to the women's 53kg quarter-finals, demonstrating the art of turning defence into attack.

The 26-year-old Indian wrestler cruised to a 7-1 victory over the Swede, whom she also defeated at the 2019 World Championship.

In the last eight, Vinesh will face Vanesa Kaladzinskaya of Belarus, the reigning European champion.

Every time Mattsson launched a right-leg attack, Vinesh came up with a brilliant counter to score points.

Vinesh used her immense strength to pull the Swede out of a difficult position on the edge of the mat, where she could have given up a point.

The Indian maintained her intensity throughout and even got herself into a pin position, but the Swede saved herself from embarrassment.

Vinesh defeated the Swede in the first round of the 2019 World Championship, securing her Tokyo Games quota and a bronze medal.

However, Anshu Malik, a young wrestler, was eliminated from the 57kg competition after losing her repechage round 1-5 to Russia's Valeria Koblova, the Rio Olympics silver medalist.

Anshu never looked intimidated by a stronger opponent and was leading the bout on criteria at one point, but the Russian pulled off a two-pointer near the end to take the lead.

The 19-year-old Indian had lost her first round match to European champion Irina Kurachikina, but after the Belarusian advanced to the final, she recovered to be in contention.

In the evening session, Ravi Dahiya (57kg) and Deepak Punia (86kg) will compete for gold and bronze medals, respectively.

Vinesh Phogat (born 25 August 1994) is an Indian wrestler who comes from a wrestling family that includes her cousins Geeta Phogat and Babita Kumari, both of whom are international wrestlers and Commonwealth Games medalists. She became the first Indian woman wrestler to win a gold medal in both the Commonwealth and Asian Games. Phogat is the first Indian athlete to be nominated for the Laureus World Sports Awards, which will take place on February 18, 2019.