An unexpected defeat. A shocking loss. These phrases are apt to describe the 4 x World Champion Yui Susaki’s defeat to Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat. Ever since making her debut in 2010, Susaki had been on a winning spree. The Japanese freestyle wrestler had even added a gold to her medal tally at the 2020 Summer Olympics in the 50 kg category. This win was achieved by her without conceding a single point!

Unfortunately in the quarterfinals of the Paris Olympics, the defending champion’s 82-0 run was broken by Vinesh. The formerly unbeatable Susaki had beaten many world champions with her intelligent, slick and incredibly fast game. But not this time with Vinesh as her opponent. As the laser-focused Vinesh progressed to the semi-finals, Yui was left ruminating over her disheartening defeat.

Yui Susaki opens up about her loss in the Olympics.

25-year-old Susaki, who did not lose a single point while winning a gold medal in Tokyo three years ago, lost 3-2 to India’s Vinesh Phogat at Paris’ Champ-de-Mars Arena. It was the first and only bout lost by her in Paris. Since the match started, Yui was leading 2-0 and was the favourite to win. But towards the end, Vinesh flipped the game on its head by tying the contest, and then scoring in the dying seconds. After the unexpected defeat, all Yui could do was rue her loss.

“By losing like this, I wasted all the support of so many people,” Susaki told Kyodo News. “I kept training for the Paris Olympics without doing anything else. The loss tells me that I don’t deserve to be an Olympic champion. I couldn’t do what I wanted to do. I just don’t know what went wrong.” Yui dreamed of winning four Olympic gold medals, consecutively. She wished to walk down the path of Kaori Icho, a fellow Japanese freestyle wrestler. Kaori had achieved the unbelievable feat of winning four consecutive Olympic gold medals between 2004-2016, and Yui wanted to model after her. But this time, it just wasn’t meant to be. We hope Yui does not take this loss to heart, because as an athlete, one is bound to have disappointing moments in spite of all the hard work.

Now, after winning against Yui Susaki, Vinesh finally reached the finals. Ideally, this would have guaranteed an Olympic medal for her. Unfortunately, this entire wrestling competition has been a strange case, with many twists and turns.

Vinesh Phogat v Sarah Hildebrandt final, and the shocking twist

Vinesh was all set to face Sarah Hildebrandt, an American wrestler, in the finals of the Olympics Freestyle Wrestling. One of the finest wrestlers in India, she was certain of taking an Olympic medal home. But in a startling turn of events, it now seems she will be disqualified from the Olympics itself! The 29-year-old was found to be 100 gms overweight on the day of her final weigh-in. She was thus deemed ineligible to participate in the finals.

Any wrestler who misses the weight limit is automatically given the last place, according to the rules of the World Wrestling Body. From stunning the world number 1 to this disqualification, it must be an appalling development for her. The Indian Olympic Association tried its best to challenge her disqualification, but as of now, regrettably, the rule stands. All we can do is wait and watch for further developments.