Bajrang Punia’s quest for a gold medal in the Tokyo Olympics 2020 was dented as he was outclassed 5-12 by Azerbaijan’s Haji Aliyev in the semi-finals of the men’s 65kg freestyle event.
Follow Us
Everyone in Khudan, a village near Jhajjar, Haryana was praying in the temple. Most of the state was aiming for more glory on Friday. After Ravi Dahiya, all hopes were pinned on Bajrang Punia. The Haryana grappler had managed to win the first two matches in a close contest. However, against Haji Aliyev of Azerbaijan, he was thoroughly outclassed. Battling a right leg injury, Bajrang Punia tried to put up a fight. But, the Azerbaijan wrestler put in clinical performance and outclassed Bajrang Punia 12-5 to enter the final. Aliyev will next face Japan’s Takuto Otoguro for gold. Bajrang, on the other hand, could face Daulet Niyazbekov of Kazakhstan.
Bajrang was clearly unsettled by the injury that he sustained and Aliyev pounced on it. The Indian fell behind by three points in the first period. The woes only mounted in the next period as Aliyev consistently outwrestled Bajrang. He did not give the Indian any room to maneuver or make the critical move to get the points. There was a late challenge by the Indian contingent in a desperate bid to close the gap. But, that did not work and Aliyev walked away as the winner.
With the gold and silver medal hope now extinguished, Bajrang will fight for bronze on Saturday. His opponent, Niyazbekov, is someone he will be very familiar with. In the 2019 World Championships, Bajrang Punia was determined to win the gold medal in the tournament at Nur Sultan in Kazakhstan.
However, Bajrang started the match disastrously and fell behind as Niyazbekov took a 9-2 lead. With moments to go, Bajrang launched an aggressive attack and managed to level the scores at 9-9. However, that was not enough for the Indian to go through as Niyazbekhov was declared the winner.
The Indian wrestling contingent has so far had mixed results in Tokyo Olympics 2020. Vinesh Phogat, the top seed, was knocked out in the opening rounds which came as a major surprise. Other wrestlers like Seema Bisla also failed to make an impression. Ravi Kumar Dahiya settled for silver but he lost a tough match to Zavur Uguyev in the final. Deepak Punia also missed out on the bronze as he lost in his match-up to San Marino’s Myles Amine.
With wrestling also underwhelming slightly, the chances of India hoping to overhaul their medal tally in London 2012 has taken a slight hit. But, the Tokyo Olympics 2020 has still been a decent Olympics for India. If Neeraj Chopra, Aditi Ashok, and Bajrang all get their act together on the final day tomorrow, then India will have ended the Olympics on a high. On the closing day of the Olympics, there are no events scheduled that involve Indian participation.
