Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat has made a remarkable run at the Paris 2024 Olympics, advancing to the semi-finals of the women’s freestyle 50kg wrestling event. Phogat’s journey began with a stunning upset over defending champion and four-time world champion Yui Susaki of Japan, winning 3-2 in the Round of 16. She then secured a 7-5 victory against Ukraine’s Oksana Livach in the quarter-finals.Phogat’s performance has been particularly noteworthy given her challenging year in 2023, when she was involved in protests against the Wrestling Federation of India. Now, she stands one win away from securing at least a silver medal, which would be her first Olympic medal in three appearances.Meanwhile, Egyptian wrestlers have shown mixed results at the Games. Abdel Latif Menai (also referred to as Minae or Mani’) has qualified for the bronze medal match in the 130kg Greco-Roman wrestling category. Menai secured his spot with a 6-4 victory over Bulgarian wrestler Kiril Milov and will face Chinese wrestler Ling Ziming for the bronze.However, other Egyptian wrestlers faced setbacks. Nada Madani lost to the Chinese champion in the 50kg category and is now waiting for a chance in the consolation round. Mahmoud Abdel Rahman was defeated 0-9 by Uzbekistan’s Aram Vardanyan in the 77kg category.In other Olympic news, Indian javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra has qualified for the men’s final with a throw of 89.30 meters in his first attempt, as he looks to defend his gold medal from the previous Olympics.
Key points
- Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat has reached the semi-finals of the 50kg freestyle wrestling event at the Paris Olympics.
- Phogat defeated defending champion Yui Susaki and is now one win away from securing at least a silver medal.
- Egyptian wrestler Abdel Latif Menai has qualified for the bronze medal match in the 130kg Greco-Roman category.
- Other Egyptian wrestlers faced losses but still have chances in consolation rounds.
- Indian javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra has qualified for the men’s final, aiming to defend his gold medal.
Contradictions👾There are slight discrepancies in the spelling of some athletes’ names across different sources, such as ‘Abdel Latif Menai’ also being referred to as ‘Minae’ or ‘Mani”.
