She became the first Indian female wrestler to win two medals at the event.

Grappling with injuries and self-doubt, Vinesh Phogat has endured a difficult 12 months. After her shocking loss at the Tokyo Olympics, there were even thoughts about retirement that clouded her mind and the eventual fallout with the federation left her emotionally drained.

But the fighter that she is, Vinesh decided to give herself another chance at the world stage.

On Wednesday, she got the rewards of her perseverance — winning her second bronze medal at the wrestling world championships.

After losing to Khulan Batkhuyag of Mongolia in her first bout on Tuesday, Vinesh came back with vengeance in the repechage round of the 53kg category. Competing against Zhuldyz Eshimova of Kazakhstan – a multiple times Asian Championships medallist – Vinesh was at her attacking best and pinning her opponent in the first period. Vinesh brought Eshimova down with a front head snap and swirled around her quickly to take control. Eshimova tried to defend but Vinesh locked her up and turned her sideways for the pin.

Vinesh got a walkover in her next match against Leyla Gurbanova of Ajerbaijain who was injured in her semi-final bout on Tuesday.

In the bronze medal bout, it was Vinesh’s defence that came to the fore initially. Emma Jonna Malmgren of Sweden kept launching quick attacks but she was first denied by Vinesh’s defence and then forced on the back foot by the counter-attacks as the experienced Indian eased to a comfortable 8-0 win.

Malmgren, a junior world champion, was quick to pounce on Vinesh’s legs at the start but the Indian countered for two points. She seemed to have hurt her ankle in the process. The entire bout played out in the same fashion. Malmgren — quick and attack-minded — swooping low to take hold of Vinesh’s legs and the latter using all her experience and skill to turn the move in her favour, eventually making it a lopsided contest.

It was Vinesh’s second international medal this season, having won her third successive Commonwealth Games gold in Birmingham last month. The competition in CWG was not of highest quality and if there was any flicker of doubt about whether Vinesh was looking for to continue in the path of Paris Olympics, she erased that in Belgrade.

She became the only Indian woman wrestler to win two world championships medal, having won her first in 2019. The 53kg gold was won by USA’s Dominique Olivia Parrish who defeated Khulan Batkhuyag.

source/content: hindustantimes.com (headline edited)