Vinesh was knocked out 3-9 by Vanesa Kaladzinskaya of Belarus at the Makuhari Messe Hall on Thursday morning.

 

The Haryana grappler looked off-colour during the last-eight clash against the Belarusian wrestler. She struggled to break Kaladzinskaya's solid defense. The loss, however, was not end of medal hope as repechage remained a possibility.

 

However, Kaladzinskaya then lost to China's Pang Qianyu in the semifinal, ending Vinesh's Tokyo Olympics campaign.

 

Disheartened with the news, Rio Olympics bronze medallist Sakshi told IANS: "I couldn't hold back my tears. I just saw the semifinal match and I can't tell you how I am feeling right now. This is our bad day in wrestling. In Rio, Vinesh got injured and she was so hurt at that time. But she then made a strong comeback and worked really hard for Tokyo Olympics. I can't imagine how she would be feeling right now.

 

"She was our strong contender. We are still unable to believe that she has lost. This is really a very bad day of my life. I will speak to Vinesh now," said an emotional Sakshi.

 

Vinesh had started her campaign on a strong note, winning her opening bout 7-1 against Sweden's Sofia Magdalena Mattsson, the 2016 Rio Olympics bronze medallist.