After a Monday that was a story of dejection - Lakshya Sen, Anant Jeet Singh Naruka and Maheshwari Chauhan all finishing fourth - and ended in the trauma of injured Nisha Dahiya losing, Tuesday afternoon gave Indian sports fans two hours of absolute delirium, thanks to two legends of Indian sport. Here's recounting those around two hours of utter sporting joy, as we recorded in our live blog:
2:31pm: Vinesh walks out donning blue, sporting a new haircut and has a stern look on her face.
2:33pm: Vinesh is put on the passivity clock with 90 seconds left. Vinesh will concede a point if she does not execute ana attacking move in the next 30 seconds.
...she does not and Susaki is awarded a point.
Susaki goes for the takedown by targetting Vinesh's right leg [which was operated on last year], but Vinesh does really well to counter. A cagey opening period ends 1-0 in Susaki's favour.
Vinesh may have scars from Olympics past, but then the turnaround began. The unimaginable happened.
2:36pm: VINESH PHOGAT HAS BEATEN SUSAKI! I REPEAT, VINESH PHOGAT HAS BEATEN YUI SUSAKI! VINESH PHOGAT, WHAT HAVE YOU DONEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
Vinesh wins it with a takedown with less than five seconds to go. Susaki, though, has challenged the call.
THE CHALLENGE IS LOST AND VINESH IS THE WINNER. THIS IS THE FIRST TIME SUSAKI HAS LOST A BOUT TO A NON-JAPANESE OPPONENT. SUSAKI HAS LOST ONLY 3 BOUTS SINCE 2015 AND VINESH IS ONE TO MAKE THAT 4!!!!!!
The Olympic scheduling Gods then gave Indian fans half an hour or so to collect their thoughts and reflect on the enormity of what Vinesh had achieved. They'd just watched Julian Weber finish Group A of the javelin qualification on top, with a throw of 87.76m. Were they suddenly a bit jittery about the chances of their golden boy Neeraj Chopra?
3:20pm: Alright I'm done, he says. Neeraj Chopra comes. Neeraj Chopra throws. Neeraj Chopra hits 89.34m. Neeraj Chopra walks into the final
What jitters? One and done. Second best throw of 2024. Top of qualification. Into another Olympic final. Off to defend that title on Thursday night.
What a day, eh? It was only going to get better, in Vinesh's bout against Oksana Livach in the quarterfinals. She'd beaten Susaki. Surely, she couldn't follow that up with anything other than a win?
4:13pm: Vinesh is out in the red this time. Has the same neutral expression on her face. HERE WE GO.
4:15pm: A minute into the bout and Vinesh strikes with a two-pointer. She traps Oksana in a fine hold and slams her onto the mat to pick up two.
4:16pm: Oksana is given a warning with about 30 seconds left as she's found to be passive...but she's not put on the clock. The first period ends with Vinesh leading 2-0 and she has been the better wrestler in the opening 3 minutes.
Halfway there, Vinesh. After what she's been through since January 2023, how is she staring an Olympic semifinal in the face? That is just Vinesh Phogat.
4:29pm: Vinesh Phogat, you superstar! Merely an hour after beating the until-now-unbeatable Yui Susaki, Vinesh puts up a brilliant attacking performance to defeat Ukraine's Oksana Livach.
Vinesh dominated the bout with her effective takedowns and was the better wrestler until the final 45 seconds, when Oksana turned aggressor. The Ukranian did well to reduce the deficit, but Vinesh pulled off four points in 20 seconds to close out on a massive, massive win.
Vinesh Phogat is into the semifinals!
And just like that, in a couple of hours, hope sprung anew. Two of India's greatest athletes once again made the nation believe. There's life in this dog yet in Paris. Two semifinals on Tuesday night await.