With an aggressive and attacking performance, Aman Sehrawat lifted the gloom over the Indian contingent following Vinesh Phogat’s disqualification and missed medal, by bagging a bronze medal in men’s 57 kg freestyle category.
Sehrawat scored a dominating 13-5 win over Puerto Rico’s Darian Cruz to revive what could only be described as a heartbreaking campaign for Indian wrestlers.
In the process, he became the youngest ever individual Olympic medallist from India at 21 years 0 months and 24 days. He betters PV Sindhu’s record, who was 21 years 1 month and 14 days old when she won silver at the Rio Olympics 2016.
Just when it looked like Indian wrestlers would return empty-handed from the Olympics for the first time since 2008, Sehrawat gave the contingent a lot to cheer for as he bagged the bronze.
This marks India’s sixth medal at the Paris Olympics with the country securing one silver and five bronze medals so far.
Sehrawat, the lone male wrestler in the contingent, lost the first point of the bout after stepping out of the mat but came back strongly and took the 6-3 lead at the end of the first round despite being 2-3 down at one point.
In the second round, Sehrawat was riding high on confidence and never looked like he was letting go of his comfortable lead and ended up winning the bout 13-5.
The 21-year-old Sehrawat joined K.D Jadhav (bronze 1952), Sushil Kumar (bronze 2008, silver 2012), Yogeshwar Dutt (bronze 2012), Sakshi Malik (bronze 2016), Ravi Dahiya (silver 2020) and Bajrang Punia (bronze 2020) as the Indian wrestlers to win medals in the Olympic Games so far.
Sehrawat was the only male wrestler representing India in wrestling this year. His outings have seen him secure an eighth Olympic medal for India in wrestling at the Olympics – two silvers and six bronze medals – extending its bid as the second most successful sport for the country in the Olympics behind Hockey.
Shabaash! Congratulations #AmanSehrawat for the wrestling bronze at Paris Olympics. You have made us all so proud. pic.twitter.com/573uGCj03q
— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) August 9, 2024
The wrestler from Haryana started his campaign dominantly as he registered two consecutive technical superiority wins in his first two bouts but went on to lose to Japanese top-seed Rei Higuchi 0-10 in the semifinal on Thursday.
He had cruised past former European champion North Macedonia’s Vladimir Egorov by a 10-0 technical superiority in his round of 16 bout before dismantling Albania’s Zelimkhan Abakarov, the 2022 world champion and fourth seed, 12-0 in the quarterfinals.
Reetika Hooda, in the women’s 76kg division, is the lone Indian wrestler who has yet to compete at the Games.
Nisha Dahiya was eliminated in the quarterfinals of women’s 68kg. Vinesh Phogat made it to the final in the women’s 50kg division but was disqualified after she failed the weigh-in. Anshu Malik lost her round of 16 bout against the USA’s Helen Maroulis while Antim also lost in her opening bout.
Aman Sehrawat: A Chhatrasal Akhara product
Aman Sehrawat is the fifth student of the famed ‘Chhatrasal akhara’ from the national capital that has won an Olympic medal.
The Chhatrasal Stadium in Delhi is a major hub of wrestling activity in India.
It lays claim to six Olympic medals – with Sushil Kumar having won the honour twice and Aman Sehrawat, Ravi Dahiya, Bajrang Punia and Yogeshwar Dutt all having won one medal each.
Following Aman’s historic victory, Asian Games gold medallist and legendary coach behind the success of this wrestling temple, Mahabali Satpal spoke to IANS to express his joy and thoughts on his students’ success.
“Kamaal kardiya ladke ne (The boy has done wonders),” he said. “It was a superb performance by him. His performance can be attributed to his training, he was great in all aspects of the bout be it attack or defence. This was a very important medal for wrestling and India.”
About Aman, he said, “He is so hardworking that I sometimes have to stop him from overexerting himself.”
“We are all fully celebrating this win, just wait and watch the atmosphere at the airport once he returns. The ‘dhols’ are being sounded and sweets are being distributed. We organised a hawan (prayer) before he left and have been praying every day since he’s been gone,” Satpal concluded.
Soon after winning the bronze medal, Sehrawat said he would dedicate it to his late parents and the people of the country.
“I would like to dedicate this medal to my parents and the people of India,” Aman Sehrawat told the official broadcaster in India JioCinema.
According to 2020 Tokyo bronze medallist Bajrang Punia, Aman lost his parents when he was 11 and it was his uncle who got him admitted to the Chhatrasal akhara.
India’s youngest and latest Olympic medal winner – Aman Sehrawat, thanks the people of India for all their love and blessings!! ❤️#NeerajChopra #ArshadNadeem #AmanSehrawat #VineshPhogat #Sreejesh #Hockey
— Cricketism (@MidnightMusinng) August 9, 2024
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