Indian wrestler and Commonwealth Games 2022 gold medalist Vinesh Phogat grabbed the headlines this week as she captured a bronze medal in the women’s 53 kg category at the ongoing World Wrestling Championships 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-medallist 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.