Indian wrestler Aman Sehrawat defeated Cruz on Friday (August 9) at the Paris Olympics 2024 with a scoreline of 13-5 to win bronze medal for his country. Earlier, Aman Sehrawat met Japanese top seed Rei Higuchi in the last-four round and got thrashed by technical superiority. Aman was dominated by the Japenese wrestler in the 57kg free-style semifinal on Thursday (August 8). Within just two minutes of the first period, Japan’s Higuchi Rei finished the game in the semifinal making the job too much easier for the officials and himself qualifying for the finals.
READ - (7 Longest Javelin Throws In History Of Olympics)
In quarter-finals, Aman Sehrawat demolished former world champion Zelimkhan Abakarov of Albania by technical superiority to seal a place in the 57kg free-style semifinal. Aman showed tremendous rhtyhm as he toyed with the Albanian in the second round. The 21-year-old Wrestling star of India locked his legs at the start of the second round and turned him over multiple times to earn eight straight points to secure a 12-0 victory.
Sehrawat was the only male wrestler from India at the Paris Olympics. He became the sixth Indian male wrestler to win an Olympic medal, following KD Jadhav (bronze in Helsinki 1952), Sushil Kumar (bronze in Beijing 2008 and silver in London 2012), Yogeshwar Dutt (bronze in London 2012), Ravi Dahiya (silver in Tokyo 2020), and Bajrang Punia (bronze in Tokyo 2020).
On Saturday, Reetika Hooda, India's last competitor at the Games, will start her campaign in the women’s freestyle 76kg event, aiming to add to the medal tally.
Additionally, India's chances for another medal are still alive in wrestling. Vinesh Phogat, who was disqualified from her gold medal match in the women’s 50kg event for being overweight, has appealed the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). The CAS has accepted her appeal and will hear both Vinesh and United World Wrestling (UWW) before making a final decision before the end of the Olympics.
