Tokyo Olympics 2021 Updates: Bajrang Punia, a wrestler from India, won bronze in the Men's Freestyle 65kg event at the Tokyo Olympics, defeating Kazakhstan's Daulet Niyazbekov 8-0.
This is India's second Wrestling medal at the Tokyo Olympics 2020, following Ravi Dahiya's silver. Punia won bronze, following in the footsteps of KD Jadhav, Sushil Kumar, Yogeshwar Dutt, and Sakshi Malik. Sushil (in 2012) and Ravi Dahiya (in 2020) have also won silver medals in wrestling at the Olympics.
Punia got off to a fast start, jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the fixture before adding four more points with less than a minute left in the opening quarter. Punia scored two more points with 20 seconds left in the first to establish an 8-0 lead.
In the 2019 World Championships, Kazakhstan's wrestler defeated Punia. However, before the Tokyo Olympics, the Indian got the best of him. Niyazebekov won silver in the 2019 World Championships and was also the Asian Champion in 2018. Bajrang had previously been defeated 8-1 by Azerbaijan's Haji in the men's 65kg freestyle semi-final.
Punia, who is 27 years old, began his Tokyo campaign against Ernazar Akmataliev of Kyrgyzstan, defeating him 3-3 after gaining a later point with a brilliant take-down near the conclusion of the battle. He beat Morteza Cheka Ghiasi of Iran in the quarterfinals, winning by fall.
Bajrang has medaled in three world championships. He took bronze in the 2019 World Championships and silver in the 2018 World Championships in the 65kg division. In 2013, he also won bronze in the 60 kg division at the international championships.
In addition, he is the current Commonwealth and Asian Games 65kg champion. In 2014, he earned a silver medal in the 61kg division at the CWG and the Asiad. For sports news updates, visit Isports247.net!