‘Her struggle will be remembered’, Sakshi Malik congratulates Vinesh Phogat

New Delhi, April 20: Olympic bronze medalist wrestler Sakshi Malik congratulated Vinesh Phogat after she earned the Paris Olympics quota in the women’s 50kg semifinal at the Asian Olympic qualifier on Saturday.

Vinesh Phogat defeated Kazakhstan’s Laura Ganikyzy 10-0 and won the bout via technical superiority against Laura in 4 minutes 18 seconds.

"I am so proud of Vinesh Phogat, she earned Paris Olympics quota. Her struggle will be remembered. It is not easy to win quota, you have several stages to pass before that (in India and then in the tournament). She reduced her weight to 50kg, which is not a joke. Antim had already got quota in 53kg and Vinesh knew that WFI couldn't be trusted. So she went in 50kg and won it," Olympics bronze medalist Sakshi Malik told IANS.

Anshu Malik too clinched the Olympic quota in women's 57 kg category by technical superiority after beating Laylokhon Sobirova of Uzbekistan by 11-0 in Bishkek.

Mansi Ahlawat faltered at the last hurdle as she missed out on a quota after losing 0-6 to the reigning Asian Games Champion in the 62 kg semis.