Tokyo Olympics-qualified Vinesh Phogat wins gold at Ukraine wrestling event

Wrestling World Championships bronze medallist Vinesh Phogat clinched the gold medal at the Outstanding Ukrainian Wrestlers and Coaches Memorial tournament in Kiev, defeating Vanesa Kaladzinskaya 10-8 in the 53kg freestyle event.

Both wrestlers were involved in intense battles throughout the bout but in the end, World No. 3 Vinesh held her nerves to emerge victorious.

Tokyo-bound Vinesh Phogat notched up a commanding 10-8 win over Vanesa Kaladzinskaya

Vinesh Phogat, one of the top medal contenders for India at the Tokyo Olympics, seemed to take full control of the contest in the initial seconds with an impressive 4-0 lead. But world number seven and 2017 world champion Kaladzinskaya staged a fiery comeback to put Vinesh under pressure and level the score at 4-4.

Vinesh, however, was in no mood to step back and stamped her authority yet again, taking a 6-4 lead. Kaladzinskaya tried tilting the scales with another four-point throw.

But Vinesh was quick to pounce on an opportunity to gain four more points and take a 10-8 lead with 25 seconds left on the clock. The Indian grappler put everything on the line to come out victorious from an attacking bout.

Vinesh Phogat was trailing 8-6 with 25 seconds to go when she pulle off this 4 point throw and finished off the match with a pin over the reigning European 53kg and 2xWorld champion pic.twitter.com/2y6LyF8n80

— jonathan selvaraj (@jon_selvaraj) February 28, 2021

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Vinesh Phogat to lead Indian challenge at Matteo Pellicone event next

Vinesh Phogat will be next seen in action at the Matteo Pellicone event in Rome

Having missed out on the Individual World Cup in Belgrade last year, Vinesh returned to action after a gap of almost a year. She is so far the only Indian woman wrestler to have qualified for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

She will be next seen in action at the UWW ranking series event, Matteo Pellicone, to be held in Rome from March 4 to 7.

The 2019 World Championships bronze medallist Bajrang Punia will lead the men's freestyle team in the 65kg event at the tournament.