The 27-year-old wrestler produced a stunning display to register a thumping 8-0 win over Daulet Niyazbekov of Kazakhstan to win an Olympic bronze medal.
Follow Us
It turned out to be a “Scintillating Saturday” for India at Tokyo Olympics. At the start of the day, the country was in contention for three medals. Aditi Ashok narrowly missed out on a medal in golf, but wrestler Bajrang Punia and Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra won a medal each to help the country register their best ever Olympic medal haul in a single Games. India’s previous best was six, which they managed in the 2012 London Games. Nine years later, the country has got one more medal in Tokyo. It was a fitting end to a fabulous campaign from the Indian contingent. Saturday’s headlines will undoubtedly be dominated by Neeraj’s remarkable Olympic gold – India’s first in athletics and only the country’s second individual gold at the Games.
It was a monumental achievement and one that not many would have predicted at the start of the Olympics. Neeraj Chopra rightly deserves all the praise and accolades coming his way. However, his astonishing feat cannot take anything away from Bajrang Punia’s incredible performance earlier in the day. The 27-year-old wrestler arrived in Tokyo as one of the country’s top medal contenders and lived up to the hype. Bajrang, who has three World Championship medals and two in Asian Games, may have been disappointed by his loss in the semifinals. But he made up for it with a thumping 8-0 victory in the bronze medal match, adding to the country’s remarkable Olympic campaign in Tokyo.
Bajrang Punia began wrestling at the age of seven and was encouraged to pursue the sport by his father, who was a wrestler as well. At a young age, his family started him at a local mud wrestling school. It didn’t take long for the young prodigy to capture the attention of his seniors, and he gradually began to achieve popularity in his circle. He quickly moved up the ranks and earned his first major break in 2013. In the Asian Wrestling Championships that year, Bajrang clinched the bronze medal in the men’s freestyle 60 kg category. It was the start of an incredible journey.
Later that year, he won the bronze medal in the men’s freestyle 60 kg category of the World Wrestling Championships. It was the first of his three World Championship medals. Following that moment, his growth chart has shown a steady upward trend. The following year turned out to be extra special for the hugely talented wrestler. Besides the Asian Wrestling Championships, he had the Asian Games and the Commonwealth Games to look forward to in 2014. He bagged a silver in all three events and rightfully started getting the spotlight he deserved.
It was an improvement over his previous bronze medals, but the coveted gold medal remained elusive to the Indian wrestler. He had to wait another two years for that to happen in one of these tournaments. He finally won a gold medal at the 2017 Asian Wrestling Championship held in Delhi. In total, he has won seven Asian Championship medals, including two titles in 2017 and 2019. His remaining two world championship medals came in 2018 (silver) and 2019 (bronze). One of his biggest achievements came in the 2018 Asian Games when he won the men’s freestyle 65 kg gold medal.
Bajrang Punia entered the Olympics as one of the leading medal contenders. He was not able to live up to his usual level as he lacked some rhythm, but he still managed to find a way to get the desired results. In the first game against Krygystan’s Ernazar Akmataliev, he gained three points in the first period. But, Akmataliev scored two technical points and leveled the match at 3-3. However, Bajrang was declared the winner on VPO1, meaning Victory by points – with point(s) scored by the opponent.
The next match was against Iran’s Morteza Ghiasi. The Iranian had secured a technical point and was holding onto it until the second period. But, Bajrang earned the victory by securing a victory by fall and reached the semifinal with a 2-1 win. However, Bajrang Punia’s quest for a gold medal in his maiden Olympics ended on Friday as he was outclassed 5-12 by Azerbaijan’s Haji Aliyev in the semifinals of the men’s 65kg freestyle event.
It wasn’t all over for him, though, since a bronze medal match awaited him next. Bajrang Punia was at his ruthless best on Saturday as he outclassed Daulet Niyazbekov of Kazakhstan to register a comfortable 8-0 win. The first period was a tight contest, with the Indian gaining a narrow 2-0 lead. But there was no stopping Punia in the second period as he ran riot to win India’s second wrestling medal in Tokyo. Earlier, Ravi Kumar Dahiya had secured a silver for the country.
It was also the country’s seventh wrestling medal in Olympics. On a day when Neeraj Chopra won India’s first Olympic gold in athletics, all the spotlight and coverage will be about the javelin thrower. On the same day that Neeraj Chopra earned India’s first Olympic gold medal in athletics, the javelin thrower will receive all of the attention and coverage. However, Neeraj’s remarkable feat cannot overshadow Bajrang Punia’s incredible achievement. Thanks to his Tokyo exploits, the 27-year-old will be the latest wrestler to keep India’s flag flying high.
