Vinesh Phogat defeats Sweden’s Emma Malmgren to win bronze at World Wrestling Championships 2022

Bouncing back from her shock defeat against Khulan Batkhuyag of Mongolia in the qualification round, Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat went on to beat Sweden’s Emma Malmgren in the bronze medal match of the women’s 53kg category to create history at the ongoing Wrestling World Championships 2022 in Belgrade, Serbia on Wednesday.

Phogat defeated reigning European champion Malmgren 8-0 in the bronze medal match to secure her second medal at the World Championships. The 28-year-old dominated the proceedings against the Swedish to join an elite list of Indian wrestlers who have won multiple medals at the World Championships.

The Commonwealth Games gold medallist had earlier won a bronze medal at the 2019 edition of the World Championships. She is the first Indian woman to win more than one medal at the Wrestling World Championships.

It was not an ideal start for Phogat at the competition as lost in a one-sided contest against 2022 Asian championships silver medalist Batkhuyag in the qualification round on Tuesday. Phogat trailed 3-0 at the end of the opening round of her match against the Mongolian before going down 7-0 to bow out of the race for the elusive gold.

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Phogat got a shot at redemption after Batkhuyag reached the final of the women’s 53kg category by registering wins in her next matches. She eventually settled with a silver medal after losing against Dominique Parrish of the United States of America.

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Phogat was up against 2018 Asian Games silver medallist Zhuldyz Eshimova of Kazakhstan in her first repechage match. She defeated her 4-0 and attained a win by Fall before winning against Azerbaijan’s Leyla Gurbanova in her next repechage match. 

The 27-year-old Indian star then locked horns with Malmgren in the bronze medal match and completed her redemption with a clinical victory.