VINESH BOOKS HER TOKYO TICKET, SET FOR FIRST PODIUM FINISH

Wins bronze to finish on the podium for the first time at World Championship

Indian wrestling had a lot to celebrate on Wednesday as Vinesh Phogat secured Tokyo Olympics qualification and won a bronze, while Pooja Dhanda put herself one win away from her second medal at the World Championships here.

Having endured a medalless run in three World Championships before, Vinesh finally ended the drought by pinning Maria Prevolaraki to win by fall in the bronze-medal bout.

"It is my first World Championship medal and it is a big thing to win a medal at the Worlds," Vinesh told reporters.

Vinesh made two moves but Maria defended well to keep the narrow lead at the break.

Maria forced standing wrestling, locking Vinesh. The Indian attempted a double leg attack but Maria defended well. The Greek then put pressure on the Indian by grabbing her right leg.

Moments after Maria received treatment on her wound for a second time, Vinesh pulled off a four-point throw and kept her on ground to complete the win by fall.

Vinesh is only the fifth Indian woman wrestler to win a Worlds medal after Alka Tomar (2006), Geeta Phogat (2012), Babita Phogat (2012) and Pooja Dhanda (2018).

Earlier in the day, she had held off world number one Sarah Ann Hildebrandt with some superlative defense in her second repechage round to qualify for the 2020 Olympics.

Vinesh is now one of India's most successful wrestlers with gold medals at the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games, already in her cupboard.

Adding to the elation of the Indian camp was a gritty show by Pooja in the 59kg, a non-Olympic category.

Pooja reached the semifinals with a remarkable come-from-behind 11-8 win over Japan's Yuzuka Inagaki before losing the semifinal by technical superiority to Russia's Liubov Ovcharova, the 2017 European champion.

She will now fight for her second bronze medal at the Worlds, having won one in 57kg at the 2018 Budapest edition.

Pooja can now become the first female wrestler and only second Indian to win two World medals. Only Bajrang Punia has achieved the feat. He won a bronze in 2013 and a silver in 2018.

In her bout for the Olympic qualification, at least five times, Hildebrandt had got hold of Vinesh's right leg but with her immense upperbody strength, the Indian did not let her rival take advantage and won 8-2.

After being placed in an extremely tough 53kg draw, Vinesh had lost to reigning champion Mayu Mukaida in the second round.

In her first repechage round, she had easily dispatched Ukraine's Yuliia Khavaldzhy Blahinya 5-0.

Navjot Kaur gave her a hug and the Indian camp, which has endured tough initial days, was gleaming.

At the beginning itself, Vinesh put pressure on Sarah, taking 2-0 lead with a takedown on double leg attack.

The American thrice attacked Vinesh's right leg in the first period and twice in the second but the Indian kept her on the ground, using all her power.

Whenever she got the opportunity, she converted attacks into take-down points.