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. WHAT HAVE YOU DONE VINESH!!!Vinesh Phogat has defeated the Tokyo Olympics GOLD #OlympicsonSports18 #JioCinemaSports #Wrestling #Olympics pic.twitter.com/RcnydCE3mk— JioCinema (@JioCinema) August 6, 2024 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. FOLLOW LIVE UPDATES | INDIA AT PARIS OLYMPICS TODAY 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 34 bouts in her entire wrestling career while winning over 700 bouts. Susaki had also won the World Championship gold in 2017 (48kg), 2019, 2022 and 2023. Incidentally, Vinesh is the first international wrestler to trounce Susaki on the mat. 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. Livach won her opening round 10-0 against Uzbekistan's Aktenge Keunimjaeva.
