Paris 2024: Vinesh Phogat cries with joy after snatching historic points from Yui Susaki – VIDEO

Ahead of her round of 16 match against Japan’s Yui Susaki, Vinesh Phogat She may have done a lot of homework and stuck to her plan to eliminate the Tokyo Olympics gold medallist. To put it into context, Susaki had won the gold medal three years ago without dropping a single point in the 50kg category.

Susaki had an international record of 82-0 before her encounter with Vinesh Phogat, the Indian not only qualified for the quarterfinals of the Paris 2024 Olympics but did so in historic fashion, earning the first points against Yui.

The emotions that followed Vinesh’s victory perfectly demonstrated the pressure she had been under. There was an air of invincibility around the Japanese fighter, but Phogat waited and waited for her chance and timed her move perfectly.

With seven seconds left in the match, Phogat, who had already been penalised twice by the referee for passivity, was trailing 0-2. She had shown great composure and determination to not allow her opponent any chance of scoring points.

Phogat made one last attempt to turn the tables on the Japanese fighter and earned two points, nearly taking Susaki by surprise and holding on for dear life to take home the victory, arguably the biggest upset of her career.

The David vs Goliath battle was over and it was David who prevailed. After claiming victory, she spread her arms in joy, jumped into the air and let her body fall to the canvas. She instantly burst into tears, visibly moved by the six-minute rollercoaster, perhaps even the longest of her career.

Having overcome serious personal problems during the Wrestlers’ Protest, from being grabbed by the police force during protests in Delhi to dealing with one of the best female wrestlers in the world who had not dropped a point in her career and had lost only three bouts in total, Phogat had done the unthinkable.

To top it all off, the 29-year-old made a strong push into the semi-finals, defeating Ukraine’s Oksana Livach in the quarter-finals and moving closer to a historic medal at the Paris Olympics. Vinesh Phogat’s semi-final match will take place on Tuesday evening at 10:15, against Guzman Lopez, and she is just one win away from securing India a historic medal.