India’s Paris Olympics campaign ends with six medals after Reetika Hooda’s medal hopes crushed

India’s Paris Olympics campaign ends with six medals after Reetika Hooda’s medal hopes crushed

New Delhi: India’s campaign at Paris Olympics officially came to end on Thursday after results of golf and wrestling were out. The 117-member player contingent will return with six medals after participation in 16 sports from  15 days of action at the 33red edition of the Summer Games.

Young wrestler Reetika Hooda’s participation in women’s 76kg freestyle wrestling was last hope for a medal to match their tally from Tokyo three years ago. The 21-year-old from Haryana made an exit in the quarterfinal after losing to top seed Aiperi Medet Kyzy of Kyrgyzstan. Although the scores were locked at 1-1, the rules suggest that the wrestler who scored the last point will be declared winner. In this case, it was Aiperi who picked the equaliser in the second half thanks to the passivity of Reetika.

Reetika’s last hopes for a medal was bronze through repechage round, and that was only possible if Aiperi made it to the final of the event. However, the Kyrgyzstan grappler lost her semifinal bout to America’s Kennedy Blades 6-8, and thus, India’s chance to add another medal to their tally was crushed.

In other results, Aditi Ashok finished at T-29  in the women’s golf competition while Diksha Dagar was at T-49 in the 60-player event. Aditi, who came fourth at the Tokyo Olympics, was nowhere near contention for a medal this time. The results wrapped India’s golf campaign at the Paris Games after Shubhankar Sharma and Gaganjeet Bhullar were placed T40 and T45, respectively, in men’s competition.

Which events India won medals at Paris Olympics 2024?

India matched its tally of London Olympics, having won a total of six medals, including one silver and five bronze medals. However, the country failed to emulate the success at the Tokyo Olympics. Young shooter Manu Bhaker opened the account with a bronze in women’s 10m air pistol. Manu paired with Sarabjot Singh in the 10m air pistol mixed team event to add another bronze medal.

Maharashtra’s Swapnil Kusale claimed bronze medal in the men’s 50m rifle three positions event as Indian shooters returned with three medals this time after failing to finish on podium in the previous two editions in Rio (2016) and Tokyo (2020).

The Indian men’s hockey team won bronze after defeating Spain 2-1 in the bronze medal playoff. This was their successive bronze medal after they ended the medal drought in Tokyo three years ago.

Ace javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra failed to defend his gold medal and settled for a silver medal in Paris with a 89.45m (second career-best throw).

Aman Sehrawat became the youngest Indian to win a Olympic medal following his bronze in the men’s 57kg freestyle category. Vinesh Phogat was guaranteed of a medal after she reached the women’s 50kg freestyle wrestling final but was disqualified later due to overweight on the day of her gold medal match.

The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has appealed for Vinesh to at least be awarded a silver medal before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). The verdict is likely to come out on Sunday (August 11) before the Paris Olympics closing ceremony.

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 Reetika Hooda’s last hopes for a medal was bronze through repechage round, and that was only possible if Aiperi made it to the final of the event. However, the Kyrgyzstan grappler lost her semifinal bout to America’s Kennedy Blades 6-8, and thus, India’s chance to add another medal to their tally was crushed.   Other Sports Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today