Young grappler Aman Sehrawat lost to Japanese top-seed Rei Higuchi in the 57kg freestyle semi-final bout as India’s hopes of winning a wrestling gold suffered
another blow at the Olympics on Thursday.
The 21-year-old Aman will play for the bronze medal on Friday.
Aman, who had raised hopes of securing a place in the final following two big victories against celebrated opponents in the earlier rounds, was no match for the 28-year-old Higuchi — the 2016 Rio Olympics silver medallist — as the Japanese stamped his technical superiority with a 10-0 win in just over two minutes.
Higuchi’s superior technique was evident in the first few seconds when he attacked Aman’s legs to take a 4-0 lead.
The former 2022 world champion (in the 61kg category) kept up the pressure on Aman, targeting his legs and effecting regular throwdowns with ease.
Earlier on Thursday, the Indian demolished former world champion Zelimkhan Abakarov of Albania by technical superiority to seal a place in the semis. In imperious form, he toyed with Abakarov, locking his opponent’s legs and flipping him over multiple times to earn eight straight points for a 12-0 victory.
Aman’s pre-quarter final round was also a cakewalk as he ensured an easy passage into the last-eight with a dominating performance against North Macedonian rival Vladimir Egorov.
Anshu out
Anshu Malik could not breach the defence of USA’s vastly experienced Helen Louise Maroulis, losing 2-7 in the women’s 57kg pre-quarter finals on Thursday. While she would have had the chance to wrestle for a bronze via repechage if Maroulis made the final, the American went down to Japan’s Tsugumi Sakurai in the semi-final.
A Rio 2016 champion in 53kg, Maroulis will now feature in the bronze medal bout.
