Sakshi Malik Back in Medal Contention, Will Fight For Bronze

Sakshi will now have to win both of her remaining bouts to win a bronze.

Sakshi Malik (IND) of India and Valeriia Koblova (RUS) of Russia compete in the QF (Photo: Reuters)

Sakshi Malik may have lost her quarterfinal bout to Russia’s Valeriia Koblova but her opponent may just have gifted her a second lease of life in Rio.

By means of the same repechage rule that earned Sushil Kumar the bronze at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Sakshi now has to win two matches to bag India’s first medal in women’s wrestling at the Olympics.

After Vinesh Phogat’s heartbreaking exit from the Rio Olympics due to injury, Sakshi lost her quarterfinals 2-9 to Valeria Koblova. Earlier, she had made strong comebacks in both her initial round bouts to advance to that stage.

After conceding one point in the first period of her quarterfinal fight because of passivity, Sakshi did well to earn two points in the second period with a take-down. But the Russian girl, with enormous strength, hit back to pocket four points before gaining another two to take a 7-2 lead. She earned two points again to win the bout 9-2 and make the semifinals.