Sakshi Malik at Rio Olympics 2016: Wrestler wins India’s first medal at Rio 2016

Rio : Wrestler Sakshi Malik finally made India proud at Rio Olympics 2016 by clinching the bronze medal in women’s freestyle 58kg category. After days of disappointment, India claimed the first medal at Rio 2016 and opened the account on the medal tally. Sakshi defeated Kyrgyzstan’s Aisuluu Tynybekova 8-5 to become the first female Indian wrestler to win an Olympic medal. Sakshi was trailing 0-5 after the first period but made a strong comeback to emerge as a winner. She after leveling 5-5 continued with the momentum to dominate her opponent. Sakshi earlier faced disappointment after she lost 2-9 to Russia’s Valeria Koblova in the quarter-final at the Carioca Arena. However, Valeria made it to the finals of the event, and that made it possible for the Indian wrestler to compete for bronze medal match via Repechage. In qualification match, Sakshi defeated Sweden’s Johanna Mattsson 5-4. In her Repechage Round 1, Sakshi had better of Mariana Cherdivara-Esanu to advance to round 2, where she lost to Valeria. Sakshi, who hails from Haryana, has won a silver medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.