Vinesh Phogat has been handed the toughest possible draw at the Paris Olympics: an opening-round bout against top seed Yui Susaki in the women's 50kg.
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THE Yui Susaki who won gold at the Tokyo Olympics. Without giving away a single point.
THE Yui Susaki who has lost three bouts in 14 years.
THE Yui Susaki who is a four-time World champion.
THE Yui Susaki who is a two-time Asian champion.
THE Yui Susaki who is a World U23 champion, two-time World Juniors champion and three-time World Cadets champion.
You get the drift. She's the best in the 50kg category.
What does this mean for Vinesh Phogat?
Vinesh would have wanted to be drawn with anyone but Susaki. She goes into this contest as the obvious underdog, but there's a silver lining. If Vinesh loses to Susaki, she will, in most certainty, get pulled into the repechage round and be in contention for bronze.
The brackets for day two of #wrestling at #Paris2024
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- United World Wrestling (@wrestling) August 5, 2024
Wait, how does repechage work?
Repechage is a system that's used in wrestling, among other sports, to give wrestlers a second chance at a medal. Basically, the wrestlers who lose to the two finalists are pulled into the repechage round to fight for the bronze medal. So if Vinesh loses to Susaki and the Japanese makes the final, then Vinesh will qualify for the repechage round.
The four wrestlers [who lost to the finalists in the pre-quarters and quarters] will battle it out for a spot in the bronze medal playoff, where they will face the two losing semifinalists.
Can Vinesh beat Susaki?
It does sound improbable, but with Vinesh, there is no impossible. And there's one tiny aspect that goes Vinesh's way: the only wrestler Susaki has lost to is her compatriot Yukie Irie. Fun fact: Vinesh had beaten Irie twice in 2018, at the Asian Games and Asian Championships.
What if Susaki beats Vinesh? What's her path to the podium?
Firstly, that would be among the biggest upsets of the Olympics. If Vinesh beats Susaki, she will potentially face Ukraine's Oksana Livach in the quarters. In the semis she could be up against former World's bronze medallist Evin Demirhan, Pan American champion Guzman Lopez or Colombian fifth-seed Alisson Cardozo Rey [Vinesh beat her in June].