Vinesh Phogat‘s hopes of making India’s squad for the 2026 Asian Games ended on Saturday after she lost 4-6 to Asian bronze medallist Meenakshi Goyat in the semifinals of the women’s 53kg category selection trials at the Indira Gandhi Stadium in New Delhi.The defeat ended Vinesh’s campaign after an eventful day in which she had first secured permission to compete in the 53kg category and then battled her way into the last four.Vinesh began her campaign with a 7-1 win over Jyoti of Haryana. She then defeated Nishu in a hard-fought quarterfinal to book her place in the semifinals.The bout against Nishu saw Vinesh fight back after falling 0-5 behind in the opening period. Nishu nearly pinned the former world championships medallist after executing a four-point throw, but Vinesh managed to survive.The contest was interrupted several times by challenges and technical issues with the display screens, resulting in long breaks. Nishu controlled large parts of the match with effective half-head locks, but Vinesh turned the bout around in the second period with a four-point throw of her own.Vinesh then attempted to pin Nishu, prompting her husband and coach Sombir Rathi, along with supporters, to demand a pin decision. A challenge was eventually taken. Officials ruled that the referee had blown a “wrong whistle”, but Vinesh was not awarded the pin. Instead, Nishu was placed in the ground position, though she could not take advantage.A subsequent two-point move gave Vinesh a 6-5 lead. The score later became 6-6, with Vinesh ahead on criteria. Nishu launched one final attack but was not awarded points. Her coach challenged the decision but lost the review, allowing Vinesh to progress to the semifinals.After the bout, Nishu remained on the mat in tears and refused to shake hands with either the referee or Vinesh.Earlier in the day, Vinesh had been involved in a dispute over her weight category. The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) initially informed her during the official weigh-in that she would only be allowed to compete in the 50kg division, citing her participation in that category at her last four international events, including the Paris Olympics.Vinesh objected to the decision and accused the federation of discriminating against her by preventing her from competing in the category of her choice.The issue was later resolved in her favour. Vinesh weighed in at 53.9kg and was included in the 53kg draw.However, her run ended in the semifinals, where Meenakshi Goyat secured a 6-4 victory to knock her out of Asian Games contention.
