Paris: Aman Sehrawat secured a bronze medal in the men’s 57 kg freestyle category with a dominating 13-5 win over Puerto Rico’s Darian Cruz as India ended what could only be described as a heartbreaking campaign for Indian wrestlers following the loss of a medal because of Vinesh Phogat’s disqualification.
Aman Sehrawat finished what could only be described as an emotionally taxing campaign for Indian wrestlers (Vinesh Phogat’s disqualification had cost India a medal) by winning a bronze medal in the men’s 57 kg freestyle division with a commanding 13-5 victory over Darian Cruz of Puerto Rico.
Aman gave the Indian wrestling contingent enough to cheer about on Friday when he won the bronze medal. This ended the possibility that the country’s wrestlers would leave the Olympics empty-handed for the first time since 2008. With one silver and five bronze medals won, this is India’s sixth medal from the Paris Olympics.
Aman, the only male wrestler in the group, dropped the match’s opening point after coming off the mat, but he battled back to take the lead 6-3 at the end of the opening round, even though he was down 2-3 at one point.
Aman was quite confident in the second round and never seemed to be giving up his commanding lead. He went on to win the fight 13-5.
Aman, 21, has now become one of the Indian wrestlers to win medals at the Olympic Games, following in the footsteps of K.D. Jadhav (bronze 1952), Sushil Kumar (bronze 2008, silver 2012), Yogeshwar Dutt (bronze 2012), Sakshi Malik (bronze 2016), Ravi Dahiya (silver 2020), and Bajrang Punia (bronze 2020).
This year, Aman was the lone male wrestler from India to represent his country. Through his exploits, he has helped India win eight gold medals from the Olympics, along with two silvers and six bronzes, making wrestling the country’s second most successful sport behind hockey.
The wrestler from Haryana started his campaign dominantly, registering two consecutive technical superiority wins in his first two bouts. However, he went on to lose to Japanese top-seed Rei Higuchi 0-10 in the semifinal on Thursday.
He had cruised past former European champion North Macedonia’s Vladimir Egorov by a 10-0 technical superiority in his round of 16 bout before dismantling Albania’s Zelimkhan Abakarov, the 2022 world champion and fourth seed, 12-0 in the quarterfinals.
Reetika Hooda, in the women’s 76kg division, is the lone Indian wrestler who has yet to compete at the Games.
On Monday, Nisha Dahiya was eliminated in the quarterfinals of women’s 68kg. Vinesh Phogat made it to the final in the women’s 50kg division on Tuesday but was disqualified after she failed the weigh-in on Wednesday. Anshu Malik lost her round of 16 bouts against the USA’s Helen Maroulis, while Antim also lost in her opening bout.
–IANS
