Wrestler Aman Sehrawat lost to Japanese top-seed Rei Higuchi 0-10 in the men’s 57kg freestyle semifinal in the Paris Olympics at Champ-de-Mars Arena here on Thursday. Aman will now play for the bronze medal match against Darian Cruz of Puerto Rican, who lost to Higuchi via technical superiority in the pre-quarterfinals.

After Vinesh Phogat’s disqualification heartbreak, India’s hopes of winning a first gold medal in wrestling suffered a huge blow as Aman lost the bout in the first period itself on technical superiority over two minutes.

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Higuchi’s superior technique was clear from the start as he swiftly attacked Aman’s legs, securing a 4-0 lead within seconds. The Japanese wrestler, who was the 2022 world champion in the 61kg category in Belgrade, maintained relentless pressure on the Indian, continuously targeting Aman’s legs and executing effortless throw-downs to accumulate six more points, ultimately concluding the contest.

Earlier, Aman, the only male wrestler in India’s squad, progressed to the semifinals after beating 2022 world champion Albania’s Zelimkhan Abakarov via technical superiority (12-0).

This was Aman’s second successive win via technical superiority. Previously, he defeated European Championships gold medallist Vladimir Egorov of North Macedonia to make it to the last-eight stage.

Aman’s defeat in the semifinal was another setback for India as woman freestyle wrestler Anshu Malik had crashed out in the pre-quarterfinals, losing to Helen Louise Maroulis in her first match in the women’s 57kg on Thursday.