United World Wrestling released the seeds for wrestling events at the Paris Olympics on Friday.
Antim Panghal and Aman Sehrawat are the two Indian wrestlers who received seedings for the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympics while Vinesh Phogat, Reetika, Anshu Malik, and Nisha Dahiya will be unseeded in their category.
This is the first time the Olympic Games will have seeding for the top eight wrestlers in each weight class.
Wrestlers who competed in the 2023 World Championships, 2024 Continental Championships, 2024 Zagreb Open Ranking Series and the 2024 Hungarian Ranking Series event have accumulated points towards their seeds at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Apart from the seeded eight wrestlers, the remaining eight wrestlers, who round out the 16-person bracket, will be randomly drawn into the bracket the day before each style begins in Paris, the UWW website mentioned.
Antim Panghal (Women’s 53kg) & Aman Sehrawat (Men’s Freestyle 57 kg) have been seeded 4⃣th & 6⃣th respectively in their weight categories for #Paris2024 , as announced by United World Wrestling.
No other seeded Indian wrestlers!
What are you expecting from India’s dynamic… pic.twitter.com/5nWo40YJlT
— The Bridge (@the_bridge_in) July 12, 2024
In the women’s 53kg category, Antim is seeded fourth and she will avoid world champion Akari Fujinami of Japan till the final as Akari is seeded third and will be in a different bracket.
If the seeds hold, Antim has a good chance of making it to the final.
The only Indian male wrestler going to the Olympics, Aman Sehrawat has been seeded sixth in the men’s 57kg category. He is expected to face three-time World Championship medalist and third-seed Arsen Harutyunyan of Armenia in the quarter-final.
Other Indians including Asian Games gold medalist Vinesh Phogat (Women’s 50kg) will be unseeded along with Anshu Malik (Women’s 57kg), Nisha Dahiya (Women’s 68kg), and Reetika (Women’s 76kg)