India’s 29-year-old wrestler Vinesh Phogat on August 6 had a historic run to reach the final of women’s freestyle 50kg wrestling at Paris Olympics 2024. Vinesh stunned the wrestling world with a couple off major upsets to become first Indian woman wrestler to reach the final at the Olympics.
Who will Vinesh face in gold medal match?
USA's Sarah Ann Hildebrandt is Vinesh's opponent in the final. The two have gone up against each other twice. In their first clash at the 2019 Dan Kolov and Nikola Petrov competition, Vinesh pinned Hildebrandt. They met again in 2019 World Championships where Vinesh beat Hildebrandt 8-2. Vinesh won the bronze medal at the event.
Coincidentally, Hildebrandt has qualified for her first Olympic final as well. In Tokyo Olympics, he won a bronze medal. Like Vinesh, the 30-year-old veteran has lowered her weight category from 53kg to 50kg. After the weight cut, she won bronze medal at the 2022 World Championships.
When will Vinesh Phogat's final match take place?
The women's freestyle 50kg final fight will take place on August 7, starting 11:23 PM IST.
Where to watch Vinesh Phogat's final match?
Vinesh's gold medal fight is available to watch on the Sports 18 TV channels. You can stream the historic event on the Jio Cinema app.
Hildebrandt’s coach ahead of the all-important final
Meanwhile, USA women’s wrestling team head coach Terry Steiner was stunned to see Vinesh end Japanese Yui Susaki's invincible run. He said the match against Vinesh will be hard but Hildebrandt is ready for the challenge.
“Yeah, we struggled on a couple of leg attacks where we got in on and then Vinesh scored well on the counter offensive. So, that’s something that’s in the back of our mind. Of course, Sarah is a different wrestler than back in 2019. Vinesh is too, of course. It will be hard but I think we will be fine,” Steiner told Sportstar.
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Steiner also feels that both Vinesh and Sarah have improved a lot in all aspects of the game since the last time they took each other on.
“I think Sarah has improved both physically and technically. She’s physically a lot stronger. Her mentality is a big part of it (her success) as well. She’s improved in a lot of ways but Vinesh is a great champion too. We know that. We know no one is going to give us a bronze medal. You are going to go out and earn it. Sarah is willing to do that,” he said.
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