Bajrang Punia wins bronze medal at Tokyo 2020; becomes 2nd wrestler to reach the podium

Bajrang Punia on Saturday ensured India its 6th medal at the Tokyo Olympics as he defeated Kazakhstan's Daulet Niyazbekov by 8-0 in the men's 65kg freestyle bout. With this, Bajrang Punia became the second wrestler to reach the podium at the Tokyo Olympics. Before Punia, wrestler Ravi Dahiya settled for a silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics when he was defeated by two-time wrestling world champion  Zavur Uguev from the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) by 7-4 in the final of 57kg freestyle category. 

Talking to ANI, Bajrang Punia's father Balwan Singh expressed his confidence that his son will not return empty-handed. "In the morning Bajrang called me and he was looking happy. I said 'that you didn't play your game. I watched all your three matches and you were not playing your usual self. You were just playing mentally and couldn't attack properly," Balwan Singh told ANI on Saturday.

Coming back to the match, the 27-years-old, Bajrang Punia dominated from the start. Punia brought his attacking game and got an early lead of two points in period 1 over Kazakhstan's Daulet Niyazbekov. Ultimately, Punia stretched his lead to 8 and did not concede even a single point to Kazakhstan's Daulet Niyazbekov.

Bajrang Punia at Tokyo Olympics

Bajrang Punia lost the men's 65kg freestyle semi-final bout against Haji Aliyev of Azerbaijan 12-5 at the Tokyo Olympics on Friday, August 6. Even though Bajrang Punia did try his level best to close down the deficit, Haji Aliyev did not give him any chance for staging a comeback. Haji Aliyev dominated the proceedings from the start as the Indian wrestler played a catch-up game with the clock ticking from the other end. Even though Punia did score the first point, Aliyev recovered quickly and turned the tables completely on his Indian rival.

(Image Credits: PTI)