Vinesh Phogat wins bronze in World Championships

Belgrade: Vinesh Phogat on Wednesday became the first Indian woman wrestler to win two medals at the World Championships as she clinched a bronze in 53kg by defeating Emma Jonna Malmgren of Sweden here.

The 28-year-old Vinesh had also won a bronze in 2019 edition in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan.

It was a remarkable comeback for Vinesh after her shock qualification round defeat as she beat Malmgren 8-0 in the bronze medal round.


She had made it to the bronze play-off through repechage round after losing to Khulan Batkhuyag of Mongolia, the 2022 Asian championships silver medallist, in her first bout on Tuesday.

Vinesh, a triple Commonwealth Games champion, made it to the repechage round after Batkhuyag reached the final.

In the repechage round, Vinesh first beat Zhuldyz Eshimova of Kazakhstan in a Victory by Fall (4-0) decision and then won the next bout after her opponent Leyla Gurbanova of Azerbaijan did not turn up due to injury to advance to the bronze medal round.