Reetika Hooda in action at the Paris Olympics (AFP)
Hooda put up a valiant effort against the top-seeded Kyzy, but would ultimately be edged out on technical skill, as the both would battle it out in a 1-1 bout.
The final medal push for India at the Paris Olympics would fizzle to a disappointing end as wrestler Reetika Hooda would fall victim to Kyrgyzstan’s Aiperi Medet Kyzy in the quarterfinals of the Women’s 76kg Freestyle event on Saturday.
Hooda put up a valiant effort against the top-seeded Kyzy, but would ultimately be edged out on technical skill, as the both would battle it out in a 1-1 bout.
Kyzy set the tone early, with a strong showing, putting done Reetika to the mat within the first minute. But, the Indian would not fold so quickly, as she would get back up on her feet and indulge in a grapplefest with Kyzy, as both wrestlers took to each other, waiting on the other to slip up.
Two minutes into the bout, there was nothing to separate the wrestlers. This was until the top-seeded Kyzy was hit with a hit-clock, when the Krygyzstan native tried to go for the attack, with an active Reetika defending the same and snatching away the first point to walk into halftime with a slender 1-0 lead.
Kyzy knew she had to break through the defense of the Indian to pile the pressure on. But, a strong-willed Reetika stood her ground, neutralising every advance from the top seed, as the clock continued to tick down.
The tables would get turned around with a little more than 2 minutes to go, when Reetika would be dealt with a hit-clock violation of her own. And this is when Kyzy would score her first point for passivitym and this would be the beginning of the end for Reetika.
Kyzy would make use of the slender window to pile the pressure on the young Indian, and with the techincal advantage over Reetika, she would hold on with patience and timely defense to wade her way into the semifinals on
En route to her Paris qualification, Reetika also became the first Indian woman to qualify for the 76kg heavyweight wrestling category at the Olympics. She had earned the quote in the women’s 76kg at the Asian Wrestling Olympic Qualifiers held in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan earlier this year in April.
As India’s final competitor at the Paris Olympics, Hooda got her campaign underway with a dominant 12-2 win over Bernadett Nagy of Hungary in the pre-quarter-final of the Women’s Freestyle 76kg category.
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