Paris Olympics: Vinesh Phogat upsets defending champion Yui Susaki in wrestling opener with last-gasp win

India’s Vinesh Phogat pulled off a stunning upset 3-2 win over Japan’s defending Olympic champion Yui Susaki in their Round of 16 bout of the women’s 50kg wrestling category at the Paris Games on Tuesday.

Phogat had begun the bout on a sedate note against her high-profile opponent who has been considered to be virtually unbeatable in the circuit. Consequently, Vinesh lost a couple of passivity points and trailed 0-2 for the majority of the clash before stunning Susaki.

The 29-year-old Vinesh found herself in a race against time to get off the blocks but clinched the late takedown to deny Susaki a gold medal with only 20 seconds to spare in a thrilling clash. Vinesh has endured underwhelming campaigns in her Olympic career in Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, finishing 10th and ninth respectively. After competing in the 53kg category in the previous Games, Vinesh had decided to trim down to the 50kg category for the Games this year.

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Vinesh will now face Ukraine’s Oksana Livach in the quarter-final later this evening. Livach, 27, had clinched the 50kg bronze medal in the 2018 World Chamionships before winning the gold at the 2019 European Championship.

Meanwhile, the 25-year-old Susaki had won the gold in the category at the Tokyo Games without dropping a single point across four bouts. As per records, Susaki has only lost fiver bouts in her wrestling career since 2010 and won the World Championship gold in 2017 (48kg), 2019, 2022 and 2023.

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