Paris Olympics 2024: Antim Panghal and Aman Sehrawat only seeded Indian wrestlers among six-member contingent
Ahead of the start of the Paris Olympics 2024, the United World Wrestling (UWW) has released the seeds for the wrestling events on Friday, July 12. The wrestling events will take place from August 5 and conclude on August 11 at the Champ-de-Mars Arena in Paris.
Interestingly, Antim Panghal and Aman Sehrawat are the two Indian wrestlers to have received the seedings for the forthcoming Paris Olympics 2024. Other quota holders Vinesh Phogat, Reetika Hooda, Anshu Malik, and Nisha Dahiya will enter as unseeded in their respective categories.
Notably, this will be the first time the Olympic Games will have seedings for the top eight wrestlers in each weight division.
UWW released an official statement ahead of Paris Olympics 2024
According to the official statement on the UWW website, wrestlers who participated in the 2023 World Championships, 2024 Continental Championships, 2024 Zagreb Open Ranking Series, and the 2024 Hungarian Ranking Series event have accumulated points towards their seeds at the Paris Olympics 2024.
The statement further stated that the remaining eight wrestlers, who round the 16-person bracket, will be randomly drawn into the bracker a day before each style begins at Paris 2024.
In the women’s 53 kg weight division, Antim Panghal is seeded fourth and she will not compete with the world champion wrestler Akari Fujinami of Japan till the final as the latter is seeded third and will be in the second bracket.
If the seeds hold true, Antim Panghal will have an impressive chance to make the cut to the final. Aman Sehrawat, the only male Indian wrestler to have qualified for the Paris Olympics, has been seeded sixth in the men’s 57 kg weight division.
Aman is expected to face the three-time World Championships medallist and third-seeded Arsen Harutyunyan from Armenia in the quarter-final if the seeds hold true.
Other Indian wrestlers, Vinesh Phogat (Women's 50kg) will be unseeded along with Anshu Malik (Women's 57kg), Nisha Dahiya (Women's 68kg), and Reetika (Women's 76kg) will round out in the 16-person bracket.
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