Reetika Hooda eliminated from Paris Olympics, fails to reach wrestling repechage round
Indian wrestler Reetika Hooda’s medal hopes were shattered after she failed to make the repechage round following Kyrgyz wrestler Aiperi Medet Kyzy’s 6-8 loss to Kennedy Blades in the semifinals of the women’s 76kg freestyle event at the Champ-de-Mars Arena in the Paris Olympics on Saturday.
Reetika is the first Indian woman to qualify for the Olympics in heavyweight wrestling. She started her campaign with win by technical superiority over Hungary’s Bernadett Nagy before going down to top seed Kyzy in the quarterfinal.
On Friday, Aman Sehrawat secured India’s first wrestling medal at the Paris 2024 Olympics, capturing bronze with a decisive 13-5 victory over Puerto Rico’s Darian Cruz. It pushed India’s total medal count to six, just one shy of the seven medals achieved at Tokyo 2020.