Reetika Hooda wins silver at the Budapest Wrestling Ranking Series 2024
Indian wrestler Reetika Hooda won the silver medal in the women’s 76kg category at the Polyak Imre and Varga Janos Memorial 2024 wrestling tournament held in Budapest, Hungary.
Reetika secured three victories out of her four bouts. Her only loss came against Tatiana Renteria of Colombia, who eventually won the gold medal. Genesis Reasco Valdez of Ecuador clinched the bronze.
Reetika began her campaign with a comfortable 8-0 win over former world champion Justina Di Stasio of Canada. In her next match, she faced Tatiana Renteria, and while leading for most of the fight, Reetika gave up in the last stages, resulting in a 2-3 loss.
She recovered in subsequent rounds, defeating two-time champion Zaineb Sghaier of Tunisia 7-0. The Indian wrestler won her silver medal in the final round by defeating Genesis Reasco Valdez 4-0.
On Friday, Indian wrestlers Anshu Malik and Antim Panghal won silver in the women’s 53kg and 57kg categories, respectively, at the Budapest wrestling ranking series. Anshu lost 1-12 to China’s Hong Kexin, while Antim Pangal faced a 0-4 defeat against Sweden’s Jonna Malmgren.
Their achievements contributed to India’s tally of four medals at the tournament, with Aman Sehrawat also securing a silver in the men’s 57kg freestyle category.
Reetika Hooda improves Olympic Rankings with strong performance in Budapest
Reetika’s performance also earned her a quota for the Paris 2024 Summer Games in the women’s 76kg category. She secured this quota from the Asian Wrestling Olympic Qualifiers held in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
The Budapest event was the final wrestling ranking series before the Paris 2024 Olympics. Wrestlers earn points based on their performances, contributing to their world rankings, which will determine the seedings at the upcoming Olympics.
India has secured a total of six quotas for the upcoming Summer Games, five in the women’s category and one in the men’s category.