Vinesh Phogat becomes first Indian woman to win two World Championship medals

Belgrade, Sept 16: Indian wrestler and Commonwealth Games 2022 gold medalist Vinesh Phogat clinched a bronze medal in the women's 53 kg category at the ongoing World Wrestling Championships 2022 in Belgrade, defeating reigning European champion Emma Malmgren from Sweden.

 

 

 

She became the first Indian woman to win two World Championship medals after winning her first World Championship bronze in 2019 at Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan.

 

 

 

She had won two of her repechage matches against Asian Games silver-medallist Zhuldyz Eshimova of Kazakhstan in the first repechage round and Azerbaijan's Leyla Gurbanova. Gurbanova withdrew due to an injury.

 

Phogat, a 2019 world championships bronze medalist, was handed a shocking 7-0 defeat by 2022 Asian championships silver medalist Khulan Batkhuyag of Mongolia in the qualification round on Tuesday. Repechage round wins helped her get back into the competition and secure a medal.

She has opened her country's medal tally at the 2022 edition of the championships.