Wrestler Aman Sehrawat loses Paris Olympics semi-final bout

Young Indian grappler Aman Sehrawat lost to Japanese top-seed Rei Higuchi in the 57kg freestyle semifinal bout as the country’s hopes of winning a gold from wrestling suffered a big blow at the Olympics here on Thursday.

The 21-year-old Aman will now play for the bronze medal.

Aman, who had raised hopes of securing a place in the final following two big victories against celebrated opponents in the earlier rounds, was no match for the 28-year-old Higuchi -- the 2016 Rio Olympics silver medallist -- as the Japanese toyed with the Indian to stamp his technical superiority with a 10-0 win in just over two minutes.

Higuchi’s superior technique was evident in the first few seconds when he attacked Aman’s legs to take a 4-0 lead.

The Japanese, a former world champion in 2022 at Belgrade in the 61kg category, kept up the pressure on the Indian, targeting Aman’s legs and effecting regular throw downs with ease to garner six more points to end the contest.