53kg: Vinesh Phogat’s chance of a medal and Olympic quota spot is alive through repechage as well as Japan’s Mayu Mukaida reaches the 53kg final beating Maria Prevolaraki from Greece 4-0.
The Indian wrestler will need two matches to be in medal contention. First up, she will face Yuliia Khavaldzhy Blahinya of Ukraine in the first repechage round and will be up against world No 1 Sarah Ann Hildebrandt next. The tough draw remains.
50kg: India’s Seema is confirmed to get another shot a medal and an Olympic spot. She will part of the 50kg repechage round on Wednesday after Azerbaijan’s Mariya Stadnik reaches the final with a 6-4 win over China’s Sun Yanan.
The world No 3 Seema will have to win two rounds to get a medal. First up will be Nigeria’s Miesinnei Mercy Genesis, followed by Ekaterina Poleshchuk.
Sun Yanan had earlier beaten Japan’s rising star Yuki Irie in a thrilling match.
After the quarter-finals, both Seema (50 kg) and Vinesh Phogat (53 kg) are in with a chance to win a medal and an Olympic berth as the opponents they have lost to have reached the semi-final.
Azerbaijan’s Mariya Stadnik will take on China’s Sun Yanan in the 50kg semis while Japan’s Mayu Mukaida will take on Maria Prevolaraki from Greece.
Meanwhile, Lalita (55kg) and Komal Gole (72kg) have been knocked out.
72kg: India’s Komal Gole is out of contention of the repechage as well after Beste Altug of Turkey goes down in the quarter-final to Zhamila Bakbergenova 11-0.
53kg: Muya Mukaida of Japan, a world champion in 55kg, has beaten world No 1 Sarah Hilderbrandt from USA 12-1 in the quarter-final. This means that Vinesh Phogat has a chance for the repechage round.
55kg: Lalita twice went for a leg hold against Bolortuya Bat Ochir of Mongolia in the opening round. While she was pushed out for a point in the first instance, she managed to takedown the Mongolian in the second attempt to take a 2-1 lead at the break. Lalita was guilty of conceding a passivity point in the second round and then her defence just crumbled as Ochir turned her around to score six quick points. She ultimately won 10-3.
Men 130kg Greco-Roman: Naveen was India’s only hope for a medal in the Greco-Roman category. He had managed to get through to the repechage round after Oscar Pino Hinds of Cuba reached the final. He, however, lost his first repechage bout against Estonia’s Heiki Nabi 9-0.
50kg: Seema struggled find a hold on Mariya Stadnik of Azerbaijan in the opening round of their pre-quarterfinal bout. That meant that she conceded six points in the first round and a comeback was next to impossible. Her only scoring move came in the last 30 seconds of the match and now will have to hope for a repechage route for a medal.
While we wait for Mukaida to play her quarter-finals, you can enjoy watching Vinesh’s win over Mattsson in the qualification round
53 kg: Tough luck for Vinesh. She had one of the most difficult draw in the competition and her biggest opponent was definitely Mayu Mukaida of Japan. The reigning 55 kg world champion was just too strong from Vinesh in the opening round as the Indian first conceded a passivity point and then the Japanese clinch six quick points with takedowns in the first round.
Vinesh was much more aggressive in the second round but Mukaida’s defence was just too strong for the Indian.
Vinesh will hope that Mukaida now reaches the final so that she can aim for at least a bronze medal through repechage round.
72kg: Komal Gole, playing in her first world championship, gained a point due to her opponent’s passivity. But she was guilty of the same twice over in the second round and had to go for broke in the last one minute against Beste Altug of Turkey. She tried her best by attacking Altug’s legs in the last throw of the dice but her opponent managed to counter and win two points to win 4-1.
53kg: Vinesh was dominant in her qualification round match against Rio Olympic medallist Sofia Mattsson of Sweden. She did not allow her opponent any opportunity to attack in the first round and clinched 8 points with her counters.
It looked like she was conserving some energy in the second round but quickly grabbed four points to win the bout on technical superiority. Mattsson challenge the call as she felt that she was pushed out of the mat before that but her challenge was rejected, handing the Indian a 13-0 win.
Vinesh will now face 55 kg world champion Muya Mukaida of Japan in the quarter-finals. Mukaida defeated Yuliaa Khavaldzhy Blahinya of Ukraine 6-1.
After the disappointing performance of the Greco-Roman wrestlers, day 3 would see women’s wrestlers in action at Nur Sultan.
India’s biggest hope Vinesh Phogat has an extremely tough draw but the the Asian Games gold medallist is confident that she can win a medal and the Tokyo Olympics quota.