Budapest Ranking Series 2024: Aman Sehrawat loses final bout; settles for a silver medal
Indian wrestler Aman Sehrawat settled for the silver medal after losing the Budapest Ranking Series in the 57 kg freestyle category final bout against Rei Higuchi of Japan in Budapest, Hungary on Thursday, June 6.
The young Indian wrestler suffered a 1-11 loss against the World Championships medalist, Higuchi in the final bout of the 57 kg freestyle category.
Earlier in the day, Sehrawat started off his day with a direct qualification to the quarter-final. He secured a win by 11-1 over Robert Dingashvili from Georgia to advance to the semi-final.
Aman Sehrawat couldn’t continue his dominance in the final bout
Moving to the semi-final, Aman Sehrawat reigned supreme over Russian-Belarusian Aryan Tsiutryn to register a 14-4 win to make it to the grand finale.
On the other hand, Rei Higuchi defeated Almaz Smanbekov from Kyrgyzstan by 11-0 in the quarter-final to make it to the semi-final. In the semi-final, he defeated Aliabbas Rzazade from Azerbaijan by 19-8 to storm into the final.
Higuchi faced a tough challenge in the semi-final from Aliabbas as the latter used a high chest wrap to take an 8-0 lead. However, he managed to make a strong comeback to win the bout and make it to the final.
Moving into the details of the final bout, Higuchi outclassed Sehrawat in the final and secured the gold medal with a comfortable 11-1 victory.
Notably, the former Asian and U23 world champion Aman Sehrawat is the lone Indian male wrestler to make it to the Paris Olympics 2024, set to be held later this year. Sehrawat’s main goal behind taking part in the Budapest Ranking Series is to improve his ranking in order to get a better draw at the Summer Games.
Olympic-bound Indian women wrestlers, two-time Olympian Vinesh Phogat (50 kg), two-time U20 world champion and a World Wrestling Championships bronze medalist Antim Panghal (53 kg), Anshu Malik (57 kg), and Reetika (76 kg) will be competing on Friday, June 7, in the Budapest Ranking Series.