India, May 31 -- Vinesh Phogat was knocked out of the Asian Games selection trials here on Saturday after losing to Meenakshi Goyat 4-6 in a tense semifinal bout of the women's 53kg event. The loss will dash Vinesh's hopes of a comeback and her chances of securing a berth at the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan later this year.

Earlier, Vinesh had summoned her years of experience to prevail in a fiercely fought bout against a super-aggressive Nishu to reach the semifinals.

After a rather easy 7-1 win against Jyoti, Vinesh had to contend with a technically sound Nishu, who opened up a massive 5-0 lead and almost pinned the star grappler in the first period after a sensational four-point throw, but she survived.

The bout was emotionall...