Young Indian wrestler Aman Sehrawat lost to Japan’s Rei Higuchi in the 57kg freestyle semi-final as the country’s hopes of winning wrestling gold suffered a major blow at the Paris Olympics on Thursday. Aman, 21, will now play for the bronze medal against Darian Toi Cruz of Puerto Rico on Friday. Aman, who raised hopes of securing a place in the final after two big wins against famous opponents in the previous rounds, was no match for 28-year-old Higuchi – silver medalist at the 2016 Rio Olympics – as the Japanese toyed with the Indian stamping their technical superiority with a 10-0 victory in just over two minutes.
Higuchi’s superior technique was evident in the opening seconds as he attacked Aman’s legs to take a 4-0 lead.
The Japanese, former world champion in 2022 in Belgrade in the under-61kg category, kept the pressure on the Indian, targeting Aman’s legs and making regular throws with ease to add six more points to end the dispute.
Aman had already rekindled the country’s hopes, demolishing former world champion Zelimkhan Abakarov of Albania through technical superiority to secure a place in the semi-finals.
Aman was in great form as he toyed with Abakarov in the second round. Aman locked down his opponent’s legs early in the second round and flipped him over several times to win eight consecutive points and secure a 12-0 victory.
The fight began with Aman gaining a passivity point after his Russian-turned-Albanian opponent failed to initiate any attacking moves.
Moments later, the Indian landed a strike with his left leg to gain two more points and show his dominance by making it 3-0 at the end of the first round.
Aman was singing in the second round and Abakarov, the 2022 world champion, bore the brunt. The Indian’s excellent agility against the 31-year-old Albanian was evident when he attacked his left leg to take him down.
He then performed a ‘fitley’ (leg loop), turning the Albanian several times to end the contest with more than two minutes to go.
Abakarov challenged the last two points awarded to Aman, but the referee ruled in favor of the Indian and awarded him one point.
Aman will face Japanese top seed Rei Higuchi in the quarterfinals later in the day.
Aman’s pre-quarterfinal round was also a breeze as he secured an easy passage to the round of 16 with a dominant performance against North Macedonian rival Vladimir Egorov.
Aman, an Asian Championships gold medalist and the country’s only male wrestler to qualify for the Olympics, was incredibly agile in keeping his defense intact while regularly dominating his 29-year-old former European champion with leg holds to win the fight in technical superiority (10-0).
Egorov appeared to be a little bothered after the first round, requiring medical attention on his knee after Aman’s all-out attack.
But the Macedonian was unable to recover, with Aman knocking down to earn two more points and make it 10-0 with more than two minutes remaining.
Anshu Malik loses
Women’s grappler Anshu Malik showed great determination but was unable to break the defense of the experienced Helen Louise Maroulis of the USA, losing 2-7 in the 57kg pre-quarterfinals.
It was a rematch of the 2021 World Championship final in Oslo, where Anshu had to settle for silver against the American.
Anshu will not play in the repechage round as its winner, Maroulis, lost to a Japanese fighter in the semi-finals.
Anshu faced one of the most renowned fighters in the world, but fought with great courage to suffer only two points in the first round. Helen attacked Anshu’s left leg and pushed the Indian to the ground to take a 2-0 lead.
The Indian then held off three-time world champion Helen in the first round before the American came back to show her pedigree in the second and win despite receiving a warning.
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