Tokyo 2020: Wrestlers Vinesh Phogat, Anshu Malik bow out

Tokyo, August 5: Vinesh Phogat bowed out of the Tokyo Olympics on Thursday (August 5) after the Indian wrestler suffered an upset loss in the women's 53kg 1/4 Final against Belarus' Vanesa Kaladzinskaya.

The Belaursian, who was leading 9-3 on points, sealed the victory via fall with 35 seconds to go in the bout on Mat B at the Makuhari Messe Hall A.

The number one seed Indian came under early pressure in the bout as the Belarusian took an early lead of 2-0. Vinesh soon equalised for 2-2 but Kaladzinskaya grabbed two more points and later another point to lead the Indian 5-2 going into the second period.

Chasing the bout, Vinesh started the final three minutes with more aggression but the European champion stood strong with firm defence.

Kaladzinskaya gave no chance to Indian even after a successful review by Vinesh's side which saw one point awarded to Indian, while two points were deducted from Vanesa to take the score to 5-3.

Vinesh, however, soon got pinned down by Kaladzinskaya in an absolutely brilliant move as the Belarusian cruised into the semis, where she will now face China's Qianyu Pang in the final four.

Earlier, Vinesh eased past Rio 2016 bronze medallist Sofia Mattsson of Sweden to win the 1/8 Final via points 7-1. The 26-year-old Vinesh started her 1/8 Final match all guns blazing and took the unanswered 5 points against the Swedish grappler with her brute strength and agility in the first period.

In the second period, Vinesh kept charging against Mattsson and took another two points while the Swedish wrestler squeezed her lone point of the match via a push out.

Also in action on Mat B, earlier in the day was, young wrestler Anshu Malik, who lost her women's 57kg repechage bout via points 1-5 to Rio 2016 silver medallist Valeria Koblova.

Anshu got a chance for a bronze medal after she was beaten in the earlier rounds by an eventual finalist. But, the 20-year-old Indian went down fighting to the experienced Russian.

Earlier on Wednesday (August 4), Anshu Malik, who made her Games debut, was beaten in the Round of 16 by Belarus' Iryna Kurachkina, who made the final, allowing the Indian a second shot at a medal. Wrestling offers two bronze medals per weight category at the Olympics.

And on Thursday (August 5), Anshu, who was celebrating her 20th birthday, started the match on the front foot but the Rio 2016 silver medalist held her defence as she took a narrow 1-0 lead going into the second half of the bout.

Valeria Koblova got her second 'shot clock' in the second half which saw Malik opening the scoring in the match to level the score at 1-1. However, Koblova turned the match into its head in the last 30 seconds of the match as she captured 4 points and progressed into the bronze medal bout, where she will face Bulgaria's Evelina Georgieva Nikolova.