Tokyo: Anshu Malik lost to ROC's Valeria Koblova in Women's 57 kg Freestyle wrestling in Repechage round on Thursday here at the Tokyo Olympics.
She was pinned down by his opponent. Even at the onset, she lost a few technical points and was always trailing behind her opponent in the first period. Malik lost the second period as well and India's hopes of winning bronze were dashed.
Earlier, Anshu got a shot at bronze medal after Iryna Kurachkina, who she lost to in the pre-quarter final bout of women's 57 kg category, reached the final.
According to the rules of wrestling competition at the Olympics, the losers against the eventual finalists get to fight among themselves for a chance against the losing semi-finalist for bronze medal.
While the Belarusian Iryna beat Anshu in the pre-quarter final, she prevailed over Russian Olympic Committee (ROC)'s Valeria Koblova in the quarter-finals. She then defeated Bulgaria's Evelina Nikolova in the semi-final. Her entry into final gave a chance to both Anshu and Valeria an opportunity to fight losing semi-finalist Evelina for bronze medal.
