Paris Olympics 2024, Wrestling: Antim Panghal Suffers A Crushing Defeat In The 53 Kg Pre-Quarterfinal Bout

To state that Wednesday fared poorly for India at the Paris Olympics 2024 would be an understatement. Earlier in the day, the contingent suffered a crushing blow as Vinesh Phogat sustained a disqualification from the tournament. Just yesterday, Phogat took the wrestling event by storm, winning 3 bouts and cementing her place in the final of the 50 kg category. The wrestler became the first-ever Indian to breach the semi-final mark in the women’s wrestling tournament.

However, on the day of the final bout, Phogat failed her weight test as she was noted to be overweight by 100 grams in the category. Subsequently, the gold contender from India was slapped with an immediate disqualification, depriving her of even the silver medal that she had locked in on Tuesday by winning the semifinal. To add salt to the wounds, Antim Panghal lost her pre-quarterfinal bout in the women’s 53 kg category.

Antim Panghal Loses Her Pre-Quarterfinal Bout In The 53 Kg Wrestling Event

Women's Freestyle 53 kg Round of 16

Antim loses her Round of 16 match by technical superiority and a scoreline of 0-10 at the #Paris2024Olympics to Turkey's 🇹🇷 Yetgil Zeynep.

Let's cheer for our wrestlers, let's #Cheer4Bharat! pic.twitter.com/pwZjO8idCr

— SAI Media (@Media_SAI) August 7, 2024

Antim Panghal qualified for the women’s 53 kg category for the Paris Olympics, a category where Vinesh Phogat previously performed. The former Junior World Champion showcased an utterly underwhelming outing in her first round. The 19-year-old faced Turkey’s Zeynep Yetgil in the pre-quarterfinal bout, which eventually concluded within a matter of seconds. Zeynep dominated Panghal through and through, subsequently winning the match on the grounds of technical superiority.

Zeynep worked quickly in the bout to claim early domination, pinning Antim down to earn 2 points. In her next moves, the Turkish wrestler pulled a double flip over Panghal to take her score to 8 before sealing another 2 points to conclude the round. The entire bout was wrapped up in 101 seconds with the score reading 10-0. Eventually, Zeynep Yetgil won the pre-quarterfinal match on the grounds of technical superiority as Antim Panghal ended up in tears.

While Panghal’s performance in the pre-quarterfinal signals an end to her Paris Olympics campaign, the wrestler still has a minute chance at a medal. If Turkey’s Zeynep Yetgil manages to advance to the final match in the women’s 53 kg category, Antim will gain a chance to compete in the repechage round. The wrestling campaign of India at the Paris Olympics 2024 has delivered consistent disappointments. Earlier, wrestler Nisha Dahiya exited the tournament after sustaining a shoulder injury during her round of 16 bout against Korea’s Pak Sol Gum.