Madrid [Spain]: Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat stood victorious in the women’s 50kg event at the Grand Prix of Spain 2024 in Madrid on Saturday by defeating Individual Neutral Athlete Mariia Tiumerekova 10-5 in the final.
Vinesh, who is the reigning Commonwealth Games champion, cruised into the final on the back of three comfortable wins.
She began her campaign with a 12-4 win over Cuba’s Yusneylis Guzman, the reigning Pan-American champion. She went on to defeat the Commonwealth Games 2022 silver medallist Madison Parks of Canada in the quarter-finals. In the final four stage, Vinesh defeated Canada’s Katie Dutchak by 9-4.
The 29-year-old had arrived in Madrid after receiving her Schengen visa at the last minute on Wednesday.
Following her stint in Madrid, Phogat, who secured a Paris 2024 Olympics quota for India at the 2024 Asian Wrestling Olympic Qualification Tournament in Bishkek, will now head to Boulogne sur-Mer, France according to Olympics.com.
The two-time Olympian will compete in the women’s 50kg division at the Paris 2024 Olympics starting on July 26.
She competed in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in the 53kg division but after struggling with injuries she had to make way for an in-form Antim Panghal in the category. At Rio 2016, Phogat competed in the women’s 48kg.
Asian Games bronze medallist, Antim Panghal, is also in Europe, training at the Olympic Training Centre in Tata, Hungary.
