Vinesh,Seema Bisla Reach Repechage, Keep India’s Medal Hopes Alive

New Delhi: Vinesh Phogat (53kg) and Seema Bisla (50kg) remained in the hunt for a bronze medal as they reached the repechage round in their respective categories at the UWW World Senior Wrestling Championships in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan here on Tuesday.

Asian Games gold medallist Vinesh had earlier begun her quest for a maiden medal from the world event with a thunderous 13-0 win over Rio Olympic bronze medallist Sofia Mattsson of Sweden. Even though it sparked hopes of gold, her next bout against the reigning world champion Mayu Mukaida of Japan proved tough.

The strong Japanese kept the Indian on the backfoot and prevented her from showing her usual aggression, resulting in a 0-7 loss for the Commonwealth Games gold medallist. This was the second consecutive defeat that Vinesh suffered at the hands of Mukaida following the Asian Championships.

However, with Mukaida managing to reach the final, Vinesh was presented with yet another shot at a medal as she will now take on former World Championships bronze medallist Yuliya Khalvadzhy of Ukraine. A win over her, as well as a win over last year's runner-up Sarah Hildebrandt, will put Vinesh in the bronze medal bout versus Greece's two-time World Championships medallist Maria Prevolaraki and also fetch her a highly coveted Tokyo Olympics qualification.

In 50kg, Seema Bisla's second seeding did not exempt her from facing the three-time Olympic medallist Mariya Stadnik of Azerbaijan in the opening bout. The Yasar Dogu champion came up short 2-9 against Stadnik but with the latter progressing into the summit clash, Seema got another golden chance to sniff at a medal and a 2020 Olympic berth.

For Seema to take the bronze, she needs to first overcome Nigeria's Miesinnei Mercy Genesis, then get the better of Yasar Dogu silver medallist Ekaterina Poleshchuk before she can enter the bronze medal contest with China's Rio Olympic bronze medallist Sun Yanan. IANS

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