Aman Sehrawat had stormed into the men’s 57kg freestyle wrestling semi-finals with two comprehensive wins earlier on Thursday. He was packed off as swiftly in the last-four round bout by Rei Higuchi after that. The six-minute bout was over in just over two minutes. The top-seeded Japanese ended the contest with a 10-0 verdict. It ended almost as soon as it started.
Sehrawat stays alive for a bronze medal nonetheless. It will be his if he beats Darian Toi Cruz of Puerto Rico on Friday. These wrestling events award two bronze medals, but unlike in boxing, the semi-finalists do not get them just by reaching that stage. They go through the repechage rule and that’s what the 21-year-old Indian will have to overcome to keep intact India’s medal-winning run in Olympic wrestling started by Sushil Kumar in 2008.
Incidentally, Sehrawat comes from the same Chhatrasal Stadium in Delhi, which has given India Olympic medallists like Sushil, Yogeshwar Dutt and Ravi Dahiya. The last mentioned had won silver in the same 57kg class in Tokyo. The Olympic debutant could have had a go at it or more had he beaten Higuchi. But the 2016 Olympic silver-medallist made it a virtual no-contest.
Given the way Sehrawat had revived the Indian wrestling campaign at Paris 2024, with two technical superiority wins (a lead of 10 points to call the bout off), against Vladimir Egorov of North Macedonia and Armenia’s Zelimkhan Abakarov in the first two rounds, there were high hopes of him. Although the Japanese was seeded first, at fifth, the Indian was not exactly a pushover.
As it turned out, Sehrawat was no match. It looked as if he was going to grab his opponent by the leg before Higuchi showed lightning reflexes to convert an apparent disadvantage into his favour and open up a 4-0 lead. Almost the same happened moments later and it was 10-0, bout over. Higuchi had won his previous bout in a similar manner as well.
However, one must not take a lot away from Sehrawat. In a heartbreaking wrestling campaign for India in Paris so far, he has rekindled hopes. One win and he will be on the podium. After Sushil in 2008 in Beijing, Indian wrestlers have made it to the medal bracket in all the subsequent editions. The haul includes two silver and four bronze medals. Just as it seemed that the streak was going to snap came this young man. India will hope against hope and bet on him on Friday at around 10.45pm IST.
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