Budapest Ranking Series: Hansika bags silver, Rajat bags bronze
Budapest, July 17
India's Hansika Lamba won the silver medal in the women's 55kg event at the Budapest Ranking Serie after losing to Ukraine's Nataliia Klivchutska in the 55kg women's freestyle final.
The 19-year-old Hansika suffered a 5-0 loss at the hands of Klivchutska, who is a former junior European champion.
Hansika Lamba began her campaign with an 8-4 win over Turkiye's Tuba Demir in the quarter-finals before mounting a comeback to beat Anastasia Blayvas of Germnay 10-7 in the semifinal. Down 7-2, Lamba powered her way to four different takedowns to claim the win and a spot in the final.
She has been in terrific form this year, having won bronze medals at the Asian Championships and the Ulaanbaatar Open in her other two international appearances.
In the women's 50kg division, Priyanshi Prajapat lost to Jacqueline Mollocana of Ecuador 4-2 in her bronze medal medal bout after earning a shot through repechage.
Priyanshi began with a fall over Pan-American champion Katie GOMEZ (USA) at 50kg. Gomez was the first to take the lead but Prajapat gets on the legs and finishes the bout with a pin. ut, she suffered a TSU loss against eventual gold medal winner Chinese Feng Ziqi, Paris Olympic bronze medallist, in the quarterfinal.
With Ziqi entering the final, Priyamshi revived her chances of winning a medal through repechage but fell short of a win to finish on the podium.
In the men's 125kg, Asian Games-bound wrestler Rajat Ruhal bagged a bronze medal after his opponent, Mason Parris of USA, handed the Indian wrestler a walkover due to injury.
Rajat had earlier lost to Kamil Kosciołek of Poland in the quarters but beat Gwanuk Kim of Korea 8-4 in the repechage round to qualify for the medal match.
Dinesh Dhankhar, the second Indian competing in the same division, bowed out in the quarters.
Punit Kumar (92kg) and Olympian Deepak Punia (97kg) struck out after losing the opening bouts in their respective divisions.
Earlier, Paris Olympic medallist Aman Sehrawat won gold in the men's 57kg division, while Deepak (men's 61kg) and Vishal Kaliramana (men's 65kg) bagged bronze medals.
India's medal tally at the Budapest Ranking Series now stands at five.
— IANS
Reader Comments
Five medals is decent but we need to improve our depth. Priyanshi was unlucky against the Chinese Olympic medalist, but the US giving Rajat a walkover feels hollow. Let's hope our wrestlers peak at the Asian Games.
Great to see Indian wrestling developing! Hansika's takedown spree in the semis shows she has that never-say-die attitude. But losing 5-0 in final suggests we need to work on technical execution against European champions.
I'm so proud of Hansika! From bronze in Asian Championships to silver here, she's improving step by step. And Aman Sehrawat winning gold shows we have world-class talent. Just wish our women's wrestling got more limelight.
Honest question: why did Dinesh and Punit and Deepak all lose early? Our middleweight categories seem weak. Also, Rajat's bronze via walkover is fine I guess, but we need more competitive medals. Time to invest in grassroots wrestling in states like Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.
Amazing performance by the Indian contingent! Five medals including a gold is no small feat. Hansika's journey from trailing 2-7 to winning the semifinal 10-7 is the kind of story that inspires young girls across India. Let's keep supporting our wrestlers! 🇮🇳
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