It was supposed to be a moment of redemption for Vinesh Phogat, but it turned out to be a sour end to her glittering wrestling career. The 29-year-old has been a mainstay in the wrestling circuit for quite sometime, having won two World C'ships bronze medals, three golds in CWG and also multiple medals in Asian Games and Asian C'ships.

With Antim Panghal slotted into her weight category, she had to drop down to 50kg, and qualified for the Paris Olympics 2024. But her opening bout was against defending champion Yui Susaki, who was also unbeaten since 2010, losing only three matches to the same opponent in that period. Susaki also won gold in Tokyo 2020 without conceding a single point.

A daunting task? Trailing 0-2 and with less than 40 seconds to go, Vinesh sealed a dramatic 3-2 win, and was left in tears, trying to digest the moment. Then she beat Ukraine's Oksana Livach in the quarter-final, followed by an easy victory against Cuba's Yusneylys Guzman in the semi-final.

But then for the weigh-in ahead of the final, she was 100gm overweight and was therefore disqualified! Extremely shocked, an appeal to the CAS was filed for a joint silver medal and Vinesh also immediately announced her retirement. Rewind to last year, she was busy protesting in Delhi, calling for the arrest of former WFI chief Brij Bhushan Singh.

Her gold medal bout was supposed to be an answer to her critics, but it didn't turn out that way. Speaking to India Today, former shooter and Beijing 2008 gold medallist Abhinav Bindra shared his prediction for the CAS verdict.

"Well, it's an incredibly tough situation and frankly, I don't even know what to say. The rules are very clear, where you draw the line. Sport is always governed. If you don't govern sport by rules then there is no sport. But of course, I fully empathise with Vinesh. It's an incredibly difficult period of time for her, everybody's heart is broken and we are all there for her. I had the opportunity to meet her as well. I really don't know where this would head. I know the decision is postponed for a couple of days. So I think one just needs to be patient. I am not privy to what the arguments have been made, I haven't gone through what the case is put forward and I am no legal expert. So patience for a couple of days," he said.

The CAS verdict was supposed to be given on Saturday, but has been postponed. "Well, we are all conditioned to hope. So I am being hopeful, remaining positive. I am not a legal expert. I don't know where it is headed," he added.

India’s Paris 2024 campaign has come to an end, with six medals. Manu Bhaker grabbed two bronze medals in shooting, one in individual and the other with Sarabjot in mixed team. Meanwhile, Swapnil Kusale also bagged a shooting bronze. Neeraj Chopra clinched silver in javelin throw and the men’s hockey team defeated Spain to claim bronze.

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