Paris: Vinesh Phogat pulled off the biggest upset at the Paris Games by outwitting hitherto invincible Yui Susaki with a perfectly planned strategy before edging past Ukraine’s Oksana Livach to storm into the women’s 50kg semifinal as she inched closer to an elusive Olympic medal, here Tuesday.
The Tokyo Games gold medallist and four-time World Champion Susaki had not lost any of her 82 bouts in her international career but the Japanese top seed hardly had an idea as to what was about to hit her in the opener which she lost 2-3.
Later, Vinesh quelled the challenge of former European champion and 2018 world championship bronze-medallist Livach 7-5 in the quarterfinal.
Having endured two Olympic heart-breaks, the feisty 29-year-old, is now only one win away from ensuring her maiden Olympic medal.
Vinesh has every medal in her cabinet which includes three CWG gold, an Asian Games title, eight Asian Championship medals to go with two World Championship bronze but Olympic success eluded her both times in Rio and Tokyo.
“It’s a miracle, no less than a miracle what Vinesh has done today. It was such a sad Monday due to Nisha’s injury but Vinesh has lightened up the day,” India’s national coach Virender Dahiya said before leaving for Anitm Panghal’s draw.
It was not just the Indian camp that was celebrating but the wrestlers in the Susaki’s half in the draw were relieved that the big obstacle has been removed.
“With the world champion out, I thought I will now have a better chance. Vinesh was very strong, I tried to fight but I made a few mistakes,” said Livach after her close 5-7 defeat against Vinesh.
Thrown in at the deep end, Vinesh came up with a strategy to look for that one attack in the dying moments and pulled that off successfully. There was no action for the first 90 seconds as the two wrestlers measured each other.
Vinesh was put on the clock for passivity and lost the first point. The first period passed and in the second one too, neither Vinesh nor Susaki initiated any attacking move. She lost one more point for passivity to trail 0-2.
When only 20 seconds were left, both Vinesh and Susaki got into some action. Vinesh looked to grab the left leg of the Japanese but could not do it from the standing position. With less than 9 seconds to go, Vinesh capitalised when a leaning Susaki did not have her feet placed on the mat firmly and the Indian managed to push her on the mat for a two-pointer takedown.
Vinesh knew what she had achieved by shocking the reigning Olympic and four-time world champion. She first jumped in the air then fell on the mat, cried and hugged her Belgian coach Woller Akos.
The Japanese corner challenged the last points awarded but it was unsuccessful. No one gave her a chance but what she did was unthinkable. Vinesh had to drop down to 50kg class for the Paris Games because of Antim Panghal’s qualification in the 53kg category.
It must have affected her strength but came unhurt against Livach, who ran her close. If the bout against Susaki was all smartness, it was a battle of strength and technique against the Ukrainian. She led 4-0 with consecutive takedowns, the first one coming on counter and the second was a double-leg attack.
Livach made a comeback in the second period when she went for a double-leg attack. Vinesh had Livach in her grip and was awarded another point for control. Livach came back hard to earn a push-out point from a single-leg attack. Vinesh, probably looking for a breather, asked her coach to press the challenge button.
It turned to be unsuccessful and she lost a point. It was a narrow 5-4 lead with 48 seconds left in the bout. Vinesh executed one more take down to pull away further, as the Ukrainian could only get one more to lose the close bout.
Prior to the Games, Vinesh had competed in the Spanish Grand Prix , emerging winner in a field that did not have top wrestlers, yet it gave her valuable mat time.
She missed training in most of the 2023 season due to a protest against the then WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. Vinesh was a prominent face of the protest, during which she spent nights on the Jantar Mantar roads.
Nisha Dahiya had already exited the competition in the women’s 68kg on Monday after a shoulder injury resulted in a quarterfinal defeat.
