Paris Olympics 2024: Reetika Hooda eliminated after QF loss against World No. 1 Medet Kyzy
India’s Reetika Hooda crashed out of the ongoing Paris Olympics 2024 after losing to World No. 1 Aiperi Medet Kyzy of Kyrgyzstan in the quarter-final of the women’s 76kg freestyle event on Saturday (August 10). The match ended level on points at 1-1, but the Kyrgyzstani heavyweight wrestler emerged victorious as she won the last technical point in the match via the count-back rule.
In a cagey and low-scoring quarter-final match, the unseeded Reetika Hooda went toe-to-toe against the top-seeded Medet Kyzy. The young wrestler led after winning a passivity point near the halfway mark but could not sustain the lead as her opponent leveled with a passivity point of her own.
However, Medet Kyzy eventually won the match as the tie-breaker criteria of the last technical points scored was applied.
Reetika Hooda suffers defeat as ultra-defensive Medet Kyzy steals last point in QF bout
Top-seeded Medet Kyzy was the overwhelming favorite going into the match against the unseeded Reetika, but the wrestler from Rohtak proved the doubters wrong with a strong and aggressive start to the match.
The Kyrgyzstani wrestler, a two-time Asian Championships gold medalist as well as a World Championships silver medalist, did not allow Reetika Hooda much room to maneuver her. The defensive approach led to the relatively taller Reetika resorting to interlocked wrestling, but she soon went ahead as the referee awarded her a passivity point.
The cagey affair continued, with lots of standing wrestling and interlocking between the wrestlers. However, the referee gave a passivity warning to Reetika Hooda, which gave an advantage to Medet Kyzy as she would win if the former failed to win a point within 30 seconds.
Despite Reetika trying her best to attack her more experienced opponent, Medet Kyzy held on with some astute defending to finish the game on 1-1, ultimately winning it by the count back rule.
The Indian could still make it to the repechage round if her conqueror, Kyzy, makes the summit clash.