Budapest (Hungary): Indian wrestler Reetika Hooda bagged a silver medal in the women’s 76kg category at the Polyak Imre and Varga Janos Memorial 2024 wrestling tournament in Budapest, Hungary.
With less than six competitors in the women’s 76kg weight category, the Nordic system was followed. In this system, the competing grapplers faced each other in a round-robin format.
U23 world champion Reetika won three of her four bouts. She fell short against World Championships bronze medallist Tatiana Renteria of Colombia. The Colombian wrestler went on to take away the gold medal in Budapest. While Genesis Reasco Valdez of Ecuador settled for a bronze.
Reetika’s success marked the fourth medal for India in the Budapest wrestling ranking series. Before her, Aman Sehrawat won a silver in men’s 57kg freestyle while Antim Panghal and Anshu Malik won silver medals in women’s 53kg and 57kg weight classes, respectively. Ace wrestler Vinesh Phogat was the only Indian to return empty-handed.
Reetika began her campaign with a comfortable 8-0 triumph over former world champion Justina Di Stasio of Canada. In her second bout, she suffered a 2-3 loss to Tatiana Renteria. Despite leading for most of the bout, she ended up conceding in the closing stages.
However, the Asian Championships bronze medallist bounced back and won two on the trot. She clinched a convincing 7-0 victory over two-time African champion Zaineb Sghaier of Tunisia in the fourth round. She went on to beat Genesis Reasco Valdez 4-0 in the final round to confirm her silver medal.
Reetika has already secured a Paris 2024 Olympics quota for India in the women’s 76kg from the Asian Wrestling Olympic Qualifiers in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
The Budapest meet was the final wrestling ranking series before the Paris 2024 Olympics. Based on their performances in Budapest wrestlers earned points which will count towards their rankings. World rankings will eventually decide the seedings at the upcoming Summer Games.
India have secured a total of six quotas – five in women’s wrestling and one in the men’s freestyle – for the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Read More