India, Aug. 7 -- The moment the draw pitted Vinesh Phogat with Yui Susaki, the final had been quickly ruled out of the equation for the former. Who could beat the undisputed heavyweight of the lightest women's division of this Paris Olympics anyway? As it turned out, Vinesh Phogat can.And when Vinesh Phogat did, there was a collective gasp inside the Champ-de-Mars Arena, the wrestling venue of intense physical battles right by the picturesque Eiffel Tower. The sentiment of Susaki, sitting gobsmacked on the mat the moment it ended, reverberated across the arena packed with spectators and contingents of other countries. And so it did well into the athletes' warm-up hall, where the rest of the Japanese wrestlers and coaches were stationed."All the people inside were stunned - chitt reh gaye sab; yeh kya hua, yeh kya hua (what has happened)?" India's national wrestling team coach Virender Dahiya said. "This was a miracle. Miracles do happen, but only few can make it happen. Vinesh did what no one had ever done before."Wrestlers and coaches present in the morning session of the second day of wrestling competitions fast murmured the near-impossible transpiring as it did. Competing the same 50kg category as the two protagonists of the bout, Algerian Ibtissem Doudou was left awestruck by what Vinesh had just done.

"This is a big, big victory. I had never thought Susaki would lose like this," she said.An Algerian team coach, unable to speak English, placed his clenched fists to the left of his chest to paint what he felt defined Vinesh in the bout against the Japanese giant.It was all heart and all composure from the two-time world champion, two-time Asian Games medallist and the reigning Commonwealth Games champion who has been there and done that for years - not against Susaki, of course. Vinesh's opening gambit, and the subsequent romp into the final on Wednesday to confirm India's first medal on Paris soil, has injected the wrestling contingent with some much-needed zest.Especially after what transpired with Nisha Dahiya on Monday night. Leading 8-1 in her 68kg quarter-final, Nisha was seconds away from making the semifinal when disaster struck. A bruised finger and a bad shoulder injury on, she went down. The wrestler is ruled out of the competition, and flew back to India on Tuesday for further examination of the extent of the injury."After Nisha's injury and with what happened to her yesterday, we were all down. A medal hope was gone just like that. We were all quiet last night; I could not sleep," Dahiya said. "Vinesh has given a big booster dose not only to the Indian wrestling contingent but to the entire contingent."After a few fruitless days with tales of heartbreaking fourth-place finishes, Vinesh provided the big fillip first thing on Tuesday. And at later in the evening, she also confirmed the Indian contigent's first medal in Paris, and the fourth overall after three shooting medals had been won in Chateauroux. In between, Neeraj Chopra did what he does best - get the job done in the least dramatic way possible. With one throw in the qualification, Chopra ticked off the first little step of confirming his presence in Thursday's final.Chopra was back to flexing that right arm. Vinesh was back to grappling her way to glory. A fresh uplifting mood had returned to the Indian camp after a few days of lull.

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