Vinesh Phogat in action during Paris Olympics 2024© AFP
Vinesh Phogat scripted history by becoming the first Indian wrestler in history to reach the final of any category at the Olympics. Vinesh was in supreme form as she comfortably defeated Cuba's Yusneylys Guzman Lopez 5-0 in the semifinals to assure India of at least a silver medal in the women's 50kg wrestling at the Paris Olympics 2024. The semi-final clash was mostly an one-sided affair with Vinesh controlling the pace and her show of strength left a lot of social media users stunned. Vinesh grappled her opponent down to the ground on couple of occasions and even lifted her off the mat once.
You have always fought the right fight. And you have always won.
— Sayema (@_sayema) August 6, 2024
There are some pending ‘medals' which will eventually come our way but for this one, THANK YOU, Vinesh.
Your win feels personal to each one of us who have ever raised our voice for truth and justice @Phogat_Vinesh… pic.twitter.com/xA1FUAvKBD
Vinesh's day long campaign was as remarkable as it could get. It started with a 3-2 win over defending Olympic and world champion Yui Susaki of Japan, a modern day legend who was unbeaten in her 82-fight international career. Until today.
What a Shot!!!
— Mrigank Shekhar Mishra (@Mrigank20032003) August 6, 2024
The 29-year-old then dismantled world number 7 Ukrainian Oksana Vasylivna Livach before toying with Cuba's Yusneylis Guzman Lopez for a 5-0 win to seal an unparalleled final spot.
You caught the best moments of her bout!
— SK Jain (@skjain_05) August 6, 2024
She did let out scream after beating Susaki but after that, mostly kept her emotions locked inside as she went about the job of taking down opponents.
"Tomorrow is an important day, will talk then," she told journalists as she walked away from the arena after a quick video call with her mother, promising to bring back gold.
Vinesh will square off against American Sarah Ann Hildebrandt in the gold medal match.
In other news, defending champion Neeraj Chopra stormed into the men's javelin throw final with a season's best effort of 89.34m in his very first attempt in the qualification round.
Much like his qualifying round performance in the Tokyo Olympics, the 26-year-old crossed the automatic qualifying mark of 84m in his opening throw to occupy the top spot in Group B.
The tremendous effort, which is the second best of his career, also set aside concerns surrounding Chopra's fitness after he revealed that he had been battling an adductor niggle in the build-up to the Games. His personal best continues to be 89.94m achieved back in 2022.
(With PTI inputs)