How can Nisha Dahiya still win a bronze medal at the Paris Olympics 2024?
Indian wrestler Nisha Dahiya will still have a chance to win a bronze medal at the Paris Olympics 2024 if her quarter-final opponent Pak Sol Gum from North Korea makes it to the final of the women’s 68 kg freestyle event.
If Pak Sol Gum makes the cut to the final, Nisha Dahiya will compete in the repechage rounds and eventually be a part of the bronze medal match if she manages to secure victories in repechage bouts.
Pak Sol Gum defeated Irina Ringaci from the Republic of Moldova in the Round of 16 bout by 10-6. Later, in the quarter-final bout, Pak Sol Gum went on to defeat Nisha Dahiya by 10-8 to storm into the semi-final. She will take on Amit Elor from the USA in the semi-final bout next. If she manages to make it to the final, her three losing opponents will stand a chance to play the bronze medal match.
On the other hand, Blessing Oborududu from Nigeria and Meerim Zhumanazarova from Kyrgyzstan made the cut to the second semi-final. The winner of this bout will move to the final. The finalist’s opponents in the previous three bouts will stand a chance to make it to the repechage rounds.
Nishan Dahiya’s participation in repechage uncertain
Earlier in the day, Nisha Dahiya started off her Paris Olympics 2024 campaign on a winning note after defeating Ukraine’s Tetaine Rizhiko by 6-4 in her opening Round of 16 bout to storm into the quarter-final.
In the quarter-final against Pak Sol Gum, Nisha was leading by 8-1 with only 90 seconds of the bout remaining. However, she sustained a serious injury to her right hand, causing her to cry out in intense pain.
Injury impacted her performance, impairing her focus and allowing her opponent to score nine consecutive points and clinch victory to make it to the semi-finals.
With 10 seconds left in the bout, the score was tied at 8-8. Despite her efforts, the injured Indian wrestler ultimately fell short, failing to meet expectations in the final moments of the match.
If Nisha Dahiya makes it to the repechage rounds, it’s still uncertain if she will participate in it as her extent of injury is still not undisclosed.