"Strange rules made her lose the match" - Fans fume as Reetika Hooda loses wrestling QF despite a 1-1 tie at Paris Olympics 2024
Wrestler Reetika Hooda had to suffice with a heartbreaking loss in the women's 76kg quarterfinals at the Paris 2024 Olympics. She lost a closely fought match against Aiperi Medet Kyzy of Kyrgyzstan despite it ending in a 1-1 tie. The official reason behind her loss was the tie-break criteria, 'last technical points scored'.
Competing at the Champ-de-Mars Arena Mat B in Paris, Reetika was on the wrong end of a rule that saw her dream of winning a gold or silver medal come crashing down.
Reetika got off to a great start by winning her Round of 16 bout 12-2 against Hungary’s Bernadett Nagy to make it to the quarter-finals. She still remains in contention to compete for a bronze medal through the repechage round, if Aiperi makes it to the finals.
Reetika's defeat in the quarterfinal stages of the competition disappointed many of the Indian supporters. The fans were upset with the rule that saw the Indian losing an all-important bout.
They took to the social media platform X(Twitter) to express their dismay.
"Reetika hooda played extremely well but poor umpiring and strange rules made her lose the match .. she dominated the match yet she lost," said a fan.
"It's brutal when you lose despite having 1-1 score," commented a user.
"What a Bulls*it rules has in this #Olympics #ReetikaHooda and her opponent both have 1-1 points but #Indian wrestler lost because she was earned point first.Well fought Reetika," expressed a supporter.
"She fought so hard against the no 1 champion, at just an age of 21. She gave a tough competition to the winning opponent. All the very best for bright future ahead!" a fan wrote.
"Very well played Reetika - gave the World No. 1 a very tough fight and just bad luck that she lost out with a 1-1 score card," a user commented.
"That was so close.One small move could have won it for Reetika. But surely Reetika Hooda looks a very bright prospect for Indian Wrestling. No Gold Medal this time," expressed an Indian fan.
Reetika Hooda loses the quarterfinal bout in an unfortunate way at the Paris Olympics 2024
Reetik Hooda was no pushover for the much-renowned wrestler, Aiperi Kyzy. The Indian snatched the first point of the bout by passivity in the first stage. However, Aiperi then made a solid comeback in the second round by clinching a point, also by passivity, to tie the encounter at 1-1.
Unfortunately for Reetika, since Aiperi was the last wrestler to score a point, she eventually got the win based on countback. However, Reetika Hooda was left disappointed, but, in her debut Olympic appearance, she showed what she is capable of.