India will see its women wrestlers take to the arena for the first time later today at the Rio Olympics. There will be two women competitors who will be in action – Vinesh Phogat and Sakshi Malik. Here is everything you need about the two wrestlers and their opponents:
Women’s freestyle 58kg Qualification – Sakshi Malik (India) vs Johanna Mattsson (Sweden)
Timing: 6:38 PM IST
Live coverage: Star Sports network, DD National and Hotstar app.
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Venue: Carioca Arena 2, Rio De Janeiro.
India will be placing their hopes on the shoulders of Sakshi Malik who had qualified for the Rio Olympic Games when she had defeated China's Lan Zhang in the semi-final of the second Olympic World qualifying tournament held in Istanbul earlier this year in the 58 kg category. The 23-year-old had previously won the silver medal in the same category at the 2014 Commonwealth Games held in Glasgow. She had also won the bronze medal at the 2015 Asian Games held in Doha, but in a different category: 60 kg.
She is expected to fire into the semi-finals of the competition in Rio as she is one of the fiercest wrestlers at the world stage currently. However, she will be up against Sweden’s Johanna Mattsson who has had a good history in the sport, but has failed to win any major tournaments in recent times. The last time she won a medal was in 2014 when she won the gold in the 60 kg category in the European Championships in Vantaa.
It should be a match that Sakshi should win comfortably and progress to the Round of 16, but she will have to focus on the task and give her best.
Women’s freestyle 48kgs Round of 16 – Vinesh Phogat (India) vs Emilia Alina Vuc (Romania)
Timing: 7:02 PM IST
Live coverage: Star Sports network, DD National, and Hotstar app.
Find all the latest updates on www.sportskeeda.com
Venue: Carioca Arena 2, Rio De Janeiro.
Vinesh Phogat is another Indian woman wrestler who has a history of making a big impact at international competitions; she has won the gold medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in the 48 kg category. The 21-year-old had qualified for the Rio Olympics with a victory over Turkey’s Evin Demirhan in the semi-final bout at the second Olympic qualifier held in Istanbul earlier this year.
The Indian will face Romania’s Emilia Alina Vuc, who was the winner of the silver medal at this year’s European Championships in the 48 kg category. The 22-year-old is a good match-up for the Indian and the bout could actually go either way as both are young and strong competitors. It will be interesting to see how this match goes with both the wrestlers looking at securing a place in the quarterfinals of the competition in Rio.
