Rio 2016: Babita Kumari loses in pre-quarters, but hopes for a medal via repechage are alive

On day 13 of the Olympics, wrestler Babita Kumari didn't bring the good news similar to Sakshi Mailk. Up against Greece's Maria Prevolaraki in the freestyle 53 kg pre-quarters, she was defeated 1-5. However, her hopes for a medal are still alive. In case  Maria Prevolaraki reaches the final, she can compete for bronze via repechage.

#RioWithTOI #Wrestling Babita Kumari loses 1-5 to Maria Prevolaraki of Greece in freestyle 53 kg pre-quarters. https://t.co/gxSyUdxHID

— TOI Sports News (@TOISportsNews) August 18, 2016

After the 1st period in the Round of 16, Babita Kumari trailed 0-3 to Maria Prevolaraki. However, she opened her account in the second period. But she failed to capitalise on that and lost with a heavy margin, hardly the kind of the kind of bout expected from a commonwealth goal medalist.  Kumari had developed high fever pre-Olympics events, but the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) on Saturday had confirmed that the she had recovered fully.

Also read: Dipa Karmakar recommended for Khel Ratna award?

Babita Kumari was the last Indian woman wrestler at the Games today after Sakshi Malik’s debut medal  in the women’s freestyle event and Vinesh Phogat who was forced out following a knee injury.

Later today, shuttler PV Sindhu will face off world No 5 Nozomi Okuhara of Japan in the women's individual badminton semi-finals. In her last match she had  encountered world number 2 Wang Yihan, defeating her 22-20, 21-19 to enter into the semi-finals of the badminton women’s singles. After the win, Sindhu became only the second Indian woman player to reach the semi-final of at an Olympic Games after Saina Nehwal reached the same stage at the 2012 London Games. All eyes are on Sindhu now, as the nation is cheering her on.

Also read: Rio 2016: PV Sindhu storms into badminton women’s singles semi-finals

Feature Image Credit: indianexpress.com

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