With Vinesh winning a bronze on Wednesday, all eyes were on Sakshi Malik to step up on Day 6 of the World Championships but the Olympic medallist was a shadow of herself as she was knocked out in the opening round of the 62 kg category.
Fighting Aminat Adeniyi of Nigeria, Sakshi was handed a 10-7 defeat and while there was hope that Aminat would reach the final and give Malik a shot at the Repechage round, the Nigerian lost her second round match thus ending Sakshi’s campaign in Kazakhstan.
The 27-year-old Indian was slow to get off the blocks and conceded a 0-6 lead before scoring her first take down. She did fight back in the second round but the gap was too big to fill as she eventually lost 7-10 at the end of the 6-minute bout.
Earlier in the day, Divya Kakran, the only other Indian woman in action on Thursday, also had a difficult opening bout against Olympic champion Sara Dosho of Japan as she eventually lost 0-2 in the 68-kg weight category.
Divya would be hoping that Dosho reaches the final and she can make it to the repechage round.
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