Indian freestyle wrestler Aman Sehrawat clinched the silver medal at the Polyak Imre and Varga Janos Memorial 2024 wrestling tournament in Budapest, Hungary, on Thursday.
Aman Sehrawat, the 2023 Asian champion, faced off against former world champion and Rio 2016 Olympics silver medallist Rei Higuchi of Japan in the men’s 57kg final. Despite a valiant effort, Aman Sehrawat succumbed to Rei Higuchi’s prowess, losing 11-1. Rei Higuchi, a silver medallist at the previous year’s world championships, displayed his dominance throughout the match.
In the quarter-finals, Aman Sehrawat secured an impressive 11-1 victory over Roberti Dingashvili of Georgia, followed by a convincing 14-4 win against Aryan Tsiutryn, the bronze medallist at the 2021 world championships, earning him a spot in the final.
Aman Sehrawat, a 2022 Under-23 world champion, represented India as the sole male wrestler in the tournament. The 20-year-old wrestler had previously secured a Paris 2024 Olympics quota for India during the World Olympic Wrestling Qualifiers in Istanbul, Turkey, last month.
Upcoming wrestlers from India include Antim Panghal, Vinesh Phogat (50kg), and Anshu Malik (57kg), who will compete in the Budapest ranking series over the following days.
The Budapest wrestling ranking series serves as the final event before the Paris 2024 Olympics, with wrestlers accumulating points to determine their rankings. These rankings will subsequently influence the seeding of wrestlers who have secured Olympic quotas, shaping the competition at the upcoming Summer Games.
India has secured a total of six quotas for the Paris 2024 Olympics, including five in women’s wrestling and one in men’s freestyle.
