New Delhi: Two minutes and 14 seconds is all it took for the stony-faced Rei Higuchi to end Aman Sehrawat’s maiden Olympics campaign at the Champ-de-Mars Arena, in Paris on Thursday night.

Higuchi, a double World Championships medallist (gold at 2022 Worlds in 61kg and silver in 2023 in 57kg) and the Rio Olympics silver medallist, handed Aman a 10-0 thrashing in the 57kg semi-final that left the 21-year-old Indian shell-shocked as he slowly trudged off the mat, failing to launch a single attack and coming short in defence.

The strong and slippery Japanese was always going to be a tough proposition for Aman, primarily because of the distinct wrestling philosophies of the two nations. Indian wrestlers rely on endurance, Russians lean on power, and the Japanese trust pure speed.

A product of the famed Nippon Sports Science University in Yokohama that serves as the training base of some of Japan’s and world’s finest lower-weight wrestlers -- such as four-time 50kg world champion Yui Sasaki, two-time defending world champion Akari Fujinami (53kg), and 57kg world No.1 and Paris top seed Tsugumi Sakurai -- Higuchi has long been coveting an Olympics gold. The 28-year-old failed to make the cut for Tokyo Olympics after failing to make the weight in the 57kg division-- he weighed 50gm over -- at the Asian Qualifier in Almaty in April 2021.

On Thursday, with another overweight disqualification having rocked the wrestling arena, Higuchi went about his business with a calm that was at once clinical and intimidating. The top-seed stunned Aman within the first 30 seconds with a four-point throw. He could have accrued a few more but Aman’s ground defence held up. Higuchi followed it with another two-point throw before Aman somehow wriggled out.

The Japanese soon zoned in on Aman’s right leg and brought him down in a constrictor-like grip. Two points safe, he rolled Aman with an underhook to secure a dominating 10-0 win to sail into the final. Aman, meanwhile, will fight for a bronze medal against Puerto Rican Darian Cruz on Friday.

Earlier in the day, Sehrawat sailed into the semis with consecutive wins via technical superiority. Before he left for Paris, Sehrawat had listed the 2022 Belgrade World Championships gold medallist Zalimkhan Abakarov as one of the two wrestlers he was wary of along with Russia’s defending Olympics champion Zavur Uguev. While Uguev is not competing in Paris, Abakarov’s threat loomed over the 2023 Asian champion when they met in the quarter-final.

Having used the first minute struggling to get past each other’s defences, the Albanian was put on the passivity clock. He was unable to score in the stipulated 30 seconds, meaning Aman won the first point. Aman then got the 31-year-old’s left leg to take him down and grab two more points. He was however unable to roll his opponent over, but still led 3-0 at the end of the first period.

Aman came out flying in the second, attacking Abakarov’s right leg in one burst of energy. He calmly moved to the controlling position and applied four consecutive fiteles, or leg laces, on his bewildered opponent to race to an 11-0 result.

Just last month, Aman had lost 11-1 to Higuchi in the final of the Budapest Ranking Series. So, he knew what was coming his way. But he still couldn’t do anything about it.

Aman’s coach at Delhi’s Chhatrasal Stadium, Lalit Kumar, believed his ward needed to stick to the techniques he employed against the Albanian to go one-up against the Japanese.

Abakarov appealed for a review, lost and an additional point was awarded to Aman, swelling his scoreline to 12-0 for a dominant win by technical superiority.

“Aman was in great form earlier in the day. The win over Abakarov was very significant and was a great confidence booster,” the Dronacharya awardee said.

“My only instructions to Aman was to stay low and go on early attacks. Against the Japanese, he shouldn’t have let him run away with points. If you allow that, you don’t have a choice but to go on early attacks which leaves you open to mistakes,” he said.

The medal rounds, including the repechage, will be contested on Friday. Sehrawat is fighting in a weight category where India won a silver at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics through Ravi Dahiya.

Earlier, Aman got his campaign off to a flying start, beating North Macedonia’s Vladimir Egorov 10-0 inside four minutes. The Asian Championships gold medallist and the Asian Games bronze medallist was resolute in his defence and assertive in attacks.

Having worked on his attacking game in the build-up to the Games, he launched a fine all-round attack, notching up six points in the first period before returning 30 seconds later to effect two more throws and run away to a technical superiority win.

End of the road for Anshu

In the women’s 57kg class, Tokyo Olympian Anshu’s Malik campaign ended in the opening round with a 2-7 loss to double Olympics medallist USA’s Helen Maroulis. The American, a seven-time World Championships medallist, lost her semi-final to Japan’s Tsugumi Sakurai to end Anshu’s hopes of vying for a bronze through the repechage.

It has been an underwhelming campaign from Indian wrestlers in Paris, having failed to win a single medal match so far. The contingent will hope for Aman to break the duck on Friday.

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