Aman Sehrawat Wins Silver at Budapest Wrestling Tournament

Budapest – Indian freestyle wrestler Aman Sehrawat clinched a silver medal at the Polak Imre and Varga Janos Memorial 2024 wrestling tournament in Budapest, Hungary, on Thursday. Competing in the men's 57kg category, the 2023 Asian champion faced a challenging final against Japan's Rei Higuchi, a former world champion and Rio 2016 Olympic silver medallist.

Sehrawat lost the final bout 11-1 to Higuchi, who also secured a silver medal at last year's World Championships. Despite the defeat, Sehrawat's performance throughout the tournament was commendable. He began with an impressive 11-1 victory over Georgia's Roberti Dingashvili in the quarterfinals, followed by a decisive 14-4 win against 2021 World Championships bronze medallist Aryan Tsutrin, earning him a spot in the final.

Aman Sehrawat was the sole male wrestler representing India in this prestigious tournament. Last month, the 20-year-old wrestler secured an Olympic quota for India at the Paris 2024 Olympics through the World Olympic Wrestling Qualifiers held in Istanbul, Turkey.

In addition to Sehrawat's achievements, women's wrestler Antim Panghal had previously secured India's first Olympic quota in wrestling for Paris 2024 from the World Championships last year. The tournament in Budapest continues with 2018 Asian Games gold medallists Vinesh Phogat (50kg) and Anshu Malik (57kg) set to compete over the next two days.

This ongoing tournament is the last wrestling ranking series before the Paris 2024 Olympics. Wrestlers participating in this meet will earn points that determine their rankings, which will ultimately influence the seeding for those who have secured an Olympic quota for the upcoming Summer Games.