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Vinesh Phogat became the first Indian woman wrestler to win an Asian Games gold after she defeated Japan's Yuki Irie in the 50 kilogram women's Freestyle final in Jakarta on Monday, 20 August.
The 23-year-old, who sustained a knee injury at the Rio Olympics in 2016, has clinched a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games this year. Phogat expressed that she thought her wrestling career was over when she suffered a freak injury.
Vinesh added she didn’t know she would would become the first Indian woman wrestler to win a gold medal at the Asian Games, before her gold medal match.
Vinesh hardly broke a sweat in her semi-final encounter against Daulatbike Yakshimuratova of Uzbekistan, whom she trounced in mere 75 seconds by technical superiority (10-0).
Vinesh had earlier registered a comfortable 11-0 victory over South Korea's Kim Hyungjoo in the quarter-finals, after defeating China's Sun Yanan by technical superiority 8-2 in the 1/8 finals. Phogat had sustained the knee injury at Rio during her bout against Yanan.
(With inputs from IANS)
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