Indian wrestler, competing in his maiden Olympics, qualified for the semifinal of the 57kg freestyle wrestling category after beating Albania's Zelimkhan Abakarov. After flooring his Macedonia's opponent in the previous round, he decimated Zelimkhan as well making it to the last four of the contest. His win has reignited India's hope for a medal in wrestling, especially after Vinesh Phogat's heartbreak on Wednesday (August 7).
Aman yet again made a cautious start just like he did in the previous bout before he made a brilliant single-leg takedown. He held the position and tried the gut wrench only for Abakarov to escape but the move was enough for him to Aman to take a 3-0 lead. However, it didn't take India's lone male wrestler long to end the bout in the second half.
He was aggressive right from the word go and put on an exhibition of attacking wrestling. Aman trapped Abakarov in a single-leg takedown and amazingly, rolled the opponent over thrice to seal the bout via technical superiority. Aman had the 11-0 lead in his favour when the umpires declared him the winner by technical superiority.
India's 21-year-old wrestler will next face the top-seed Rei Higuchi of Japan who had won the silver medal at the Rio Olympics in 2016. Higuchi also won the gold medal in the 61kg category at the World Championships in 2022 and then followed it up with a silver in 2023 in the 57 kg category. The semifinal clash between Aman Sehrawat and Rei Higuchi is now scheduled to take place at 9:45 PM IST. The other semifinal in the same category will see USA's Richard Spencer Lee locking horns against Uzbekistan's Abdullaev Gulomjon.
