 "India's Vinesh Phogat celebrates after defeating Cuba's Yusneylys Guzman in the women's 50kg semi-finals at the Paris Olympics. Reuters")
Ace wrestler Vinesh Phogat made history on Tuesday after defeating Cuba’s Yusneylys Guzman in the Paris Olympics women’s 50kg semi-finals to confirm at least silver for the Indian contingent.
Paris Olympics: News, schedule, medals tally and moreVinesh, in the process, became the first Indian woman wrestler to advance to the final in the Olympics. Sakshi Malik, the only other Indian woman to win an Olympic wrestling medal, had collected bronze at the Rio Games in 2016.
India have won three bronze medals so far in the Paris Olympics, all of them coming from the shooting team with Manu Bhaker starring in two of them, and Vinesh’s heroics on Tuesday has ensured India will end their campaign with at least a gold or a silver.
Vinesh faces USA’s Sarah Hildebrandt in the final on Wednesday, and if she wins, it will be India’s first ever gold medal in wrestling at the Olympics.
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Vinesh’s triumph naturally sent social media into a frenzy with a number of celebrities and fans taking to microblogging platform to congratulate her on her victory. A lot of them also hailed Vinesh for her bravery, given she was one of the faces of the wrestlers’ protest against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh and later had underwent a surgery on a torn ACL.
Here are select reactions: