Zagreb Open 2023: Aman Sehrawat wins bronze in wrestling 57kg category

This is India's first medal in the ongoing ranking series.

India's Aman Sehrawat has clinched a bronze medal at the ongoing Zagreb Ranking series in Egypt. This is India’s first medal in the ranking series with Vishal set to fight out for the bronze medal against Khadzhimurad Gadzhiyev from Azerbaijan in the 70kg weight category. Aman beat Zane Richards from the USA 10-4 in the 57kg weight category to claim the bronze medal at the Zagreb Open 2023.

There was no participation from India in the men’s 65kg and 74kg weight category. Bajrang Punia, who competes in the 65kg category, withdrew from the ranking series along with top Indian wrestlers.

In the bronze medal clash in the freestyle 57kg category, Zane Richards opened the scoring, winning two points inside the first 30 seconds. However, within a minute Aman bounced back to level the points. The match was even stevens going into the interval with scores tied at 4-4. Aman made a great comeback and won six points overall in the second set and did not allow the opponent to score a single point.

In the end, the Indian grappler scored 10 points and won the match quite comfortably. In the second bronze medal match, Beka Bujiashvili from Georgia defeated Islam Bazarganov from Azerbaijan.

Aman won the opening round against a Chinese wrestler Minghu Liu (8-2) and in the quarter-finals defeated Roberti Dingalashvi from Georgia (11-8). The Indian lost to eventual silver medallist Yuto Nishiuchi (5-15) in the semi-finals and then went on to beat Richards in the bronze medal bout. Aman has been performing well in the past few tournaments and recently claimed the gold medal at the 2022 U-23 World Championships.

Another Indian in the fray, Pankaj Singh lost 2-5 in the quarter-finals to Emrah Ormanoglu from Turkey. William Pantaleo defeated Vishal Kaliramana in the qualification round (70kg) but came back strongly via the repechage defeating Angadamu from China to reach the bronze medal bout set to be held later in the day.

There was no participation from India in the men’s 65kg and 74kg weight category. Bajrang Punia, who competes in the 65kg category withdrew from the ranking series along with other top Indian wrestlers. Sujeet (65kg), Vicky (86kg), and Jonty Kumar (86kg) couldn't make it to the ranking series due to visa issues.