Indian woman wrestler Sakshi Malik, by opening India’s account at Rio Olympics 2016 won the bronze medal as she beat Aisuluu Tynybekova 8-5 on Wednesday in Women’s 58 kg category if wrestling.

Sakshi won the bout quite comfortably at the end but she was 0-5 behind at the start and the 23-year-old performed outstandingly and came back 8-5 to win a medal for the country.

In the beginning, Tynybekova performed the leg grab continuously and scored a massive lead. Sakshi, on the other hand, could only perform in the second period of the bout, when it was needed the most. She managed to push her opponent down and out of the mat. She went on to perform the similar tricks to reduce the deficit to just one point. There were only few seconds remaining when scores were tied at 5-5. The Indian wrestler kept her calm and scored three much needed points to register a win against her opponent.

Sakshi Malik, earlier, had beaten Mongolian wrestler Orkhon in the same category by 12-3 and secured a chance to bout for a bronze medal in 58 kg category. She played extremely well and was in control throughout the match. However, in the bout for gold or silver medal, Malik lost to the senior and much quicker wrestler Koblova 2-9 in the quarterfinals and got out of the race for gold or silver medal in 58 kg category.

By Prajakt K.