Rio 2016: Wrestler Babita Kumari loses opening bout, awaits repechage result

Indian wrestler Babita Kumari failed to continue her country's euphoria on the mat, as she suffered a crushing 1-5 defeat at the hands of Greece's Maria Prevolaraki in the pre-quarter-finals of the women's 53kg freestyle wrestling competition here at the Rio Olympics on Thursday.

After trailing by 0-3 at the end of the first period, the 26-year-old Bhiwani girl managed to earn one point, but that was not enough to stop the Greek wrestler who performed superbly to keep herself alive in the match.

According to the Repechage system, Babita would still get a chance to earn a bronze medal for the country if Maria manages to qualify for the finals of the event.

Earlier, wrestler Sakshi Malik received another chance at a medal via repechage and made full use of the second life as she defeated reigning Asian champion Aisuluu Tynybekova of Kyrgyzstan 8-5 in the bronze medal match to end the country's agonising wait for a medal in Rio.