Tokyo, Aug 4 (IANS): India's Anshu Malik has got a shot at bronze medal after Iryna Kurachkina, who she lost to in the pre-quarter final bout of women's 57 kg category, reached the final.
According to the rules of wrestling competition at the Olympics, the losers against the eventual finalists get to fight among themselves for a chance against the losing semi-finalist for bronze medal.
While the Belarusian Iryna beat Anshu in the pre-quarter final, she prevailed over Russian Olympic Committee (ROC)'s Valeria Koblova in the quarter-finals. She then defeated Bulgaria's Evelina Nikolova in the semi-final.
Her entry into final will give a chance to both Anshu and Valeria an opportunity to fight losing semi-finalist Evelina for bronze medal.
But for that to happen, Anshu and Valeria, the two wrestlers who lost to the Belarusian before the semi-final stage, have to battle against each other. The winner of their bout, scheduled at 7.37 am, will get an opportunity to fight for the bronze medal against Evelina.
In short, Anshu has two bouts to win to get a bronze.