Rio de Janeiro, Aug 18: Amid the celebrations over Sakshi Malik's bronze medal, the Indian contingent at the ongoing Rio Olympics received another piece of good news with doctors announcing that her fellow female wrestler Vinesh Phogat will recover from her injury within two weeks. Vinesh had sustained what seemed to be a serious knee injury during her bout against Sun Yanan of China in the quarter-finals of the Women's Freestyle 48kg category at the Carioca Arena 2 here on Wednesday.
"She will recover from the injury in about two weeks, but for her to start wrestling will take about six weeks at least," the Chief Medical Officer of the Indian contingent in Rio, Pawandeep Singh Kohli told IANS.
"After an MRI test, we could conclude that there was a ligament tear and injury to muscles in the outer part of the knee area," Kohli said, adding that recovering in such cases is ensured but she would have to rest and moved around in crutches for two weeks.
The doctor said she sustained the injury when her opponent in the wrestling match caught her foot and turned it sharply, putting pressure on the knee. "It's an agonising pain when a ligament tears," he said. A brace has been put on her leg. She will be examined after two weeks and then advise given on future course of treatment.
The Haryana grappler, one of India's best bets for a medal, had received a bye in the opening round. She then started her campaign on a rousing note with a dominant 11-0 thrashing of Alina Emilia of Romania in the pre-quarterfinals.
However, disaster struck during the quarterfinals as Vinesh twisted her leg badly while attempting a hold on her Chinese opponent. The 21-year-old, who was leading 1-0 at the time, also lost her grip following the injury – thereby allowing Sun to score a couple of points and take the lead.
The match was immediately stopped to allow medical attention to Vinesh. After the Indian physio declared that Vinesh would not be able to continue, Sun, who was leading 2-1, was declared the winner by injury.
Vinesh, who got her injured knee wrapped, was taken off on a stretcher as the injury seemed to be a very serious one. The scenes at the end made for disturbing viewing, as the pain got too unbearable and Vinesh cried her eyes out.
It was a very unfortunate end to the campaign of arguably India's best wrestler, but she would be glad to know that there was at least some joy for the country in women's wrestling. Sakshi Malik's bronze later in the day would not have completely made up for Vinesh's injury, but it would have gone some way in making her feel a little better.
