Olympic bronze medallist Sakshi Malik stunned reigning world champion Petra Olli of Finland to enter the finals of the 65 kg freestyle category at the Dan Kolov 2019 wrestling meet in Bulgaria on Thursday, 28 February.
Malik has endured a tough patch of results in recent times, with indifferent form over the past year, but showed signs of rediscovering her touch against Olli – who presently holds the 65 kg title at both the world and European championships.
The Indian grappler downed the world champion 4-1 in the semi-final in Ruse to set up a title showdown with Sweden’s Henna Johansson on Friday, 1 March.
“The last few bouts where I had to face defeat were very close affairs. Every time, it was just a matter of few seconds here and there,” the Rio Olympics medallist was quoted as saying by IANS.
Malik ran up below-par performances through an eventful 2018, settling for a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, and failing to finish among the medals at the Asian Games in Indonesia.
But the 26-year-old remains determined to get a crack at a second successive Olympic medal – a feat only achieved by Sushil Kumar in the history of Indian wrestling.
“Winning another Olympic medal is my dream and I am completely focused on that.”Sakshi Malik to IANS
“But before that, there is the world championships where I have to perform well to qualify for the Tokyo Games. I am really happy with my fitness and training at the moment and I am sure, I will be able to make my dream a reality in Tokyo next year,” she added.
(With inputs from PTI & IANS)
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