Indian wrestler Ritika Hooda lost the 76kg category quarterfinal of the Paris Olympics women’s wrestling after losing the last point after a draw against Kyrgyzstan’s Aiperi Metet. 21-year-old Ritika, playing her first Olympics, gave a tough fight to the top seeded wrestler and managed to take a one-point lead in the opening period.
In the second period, despite giving a tough fight, Ritika lost a point due to ‘passivity’ which proved to be the last point of the match. According to the rules, if the match is tied, the player who scores the last point is declared the winner. If the wrestler from Kyrgyzstan reaches the final, Ritika will have a chance to win the bronze medal from the repechage.
Ritika, the country’s first wrestler to qualify for the Olympics in this weight category, had earlier made it to the quarter-finals with a win by technical superiority. She defeated Hungary’s Bernadette Nagy by technical superiority 12-2 in the pre-quarter-finals. Ritika was ahead 4-0 in the first period but she performed brilliantly in the second period and did not give much chance to the eighth seeded wrestler.
Ritika started with a defensive game and was able to block the Hungarian wrestler’s attack brilliantly. Ritika was then warned by the referee for passivity and the wrestler had the challenge of scoring points in the next 30 seconds. Bernadette attacked Ritika’s leg but the Indian wrestler managed to score two points twice with a counterattack after a brilliant defense by ‘flipping’.
The Hungarian wrestler, who was trailing 0-4 in the initial period, made a comeback by scoring two points but Ritika did not give her any chance after that. After scoring two points by taking down her opponent, Ritika scored two points on her moves thrice in a row due to which the referee had to stop the match 29 seconds early.
