In the men’s freestyle 65kg, India’s Bajrang Punia takes bronze. For his first Olympic medal, he defeats Kazakhstan’s Daulet Niyazbekov 8-0 on points. On Friday, Bajrang lost to Haji Aliyev of Azerbaijan in the semi-final.
Key Summary
- Bajrang Punia defeats Kazakhstan’s Daulet Niyazbekov 8-0 on points.
- Punia had lost in the quarterfinals to Haji Aliyev of Azerbaijan on Friday.
- India now has six medals from the Tokyo Olympics, two silver and four bronze.
- India earned two silver, four bronze medals in the 2012 London Olympics, tying for the greatest medal haul in the country’s history.
Bajrang Punia of India won the bronze medal in men’s freestyle 65kg, defeating Kazakhstan’s Niyazbekov 8-0 on points for his maiden Olympic medal.
Bajrang, who had lost in the quarterfinals to Haji Aliyev of Azerbaijan on Friday, came up with a methodical match in which he gained an early lead in the first session and capitalized on counterattacks when his Kazakh opponent, a two-time World Championship medalist, went on the attack.
With Bajrang’s bronze, India now has six medals from the Tokyo Olympics, two silver and four bronze. India earned two silver and four bronze medals in the 2012 London Olympics, tying for the greatest medal haul in the country’s history.
The Indian cruised to an easy 8-0 victory over his opponent.
On Saturday, Bajrang Punia overcame the disappointment of losing in the men’s 65kg freestyle semi-final to win the bronze medal by completely defeating third seed Daulet Niyazbekov.
The Indian won the first point because the Kazakh was unable to attack after receiving a passivity warning.
Punia earned the game’s first point near the end of the first session, sending his opponent out of bounds during a scramble at the mat’s edge. He was up 2-0 at the end of the first period. This is a useful lead, but everything may go awry at this stage.
Punia, on the other hand, did not rest on his laurels in the second period and continued to attack. When he locked his opponent’s ankle, he was rewarded with a two-pointer. He then made it a 6-0 advantage in a matter of seconds by switching from the leg to the back.
The Indian then pushed home the lead to make it 8-0, and that was the final score.
Bajrang was one of the favorites before into the competition, but he is competing in his first Olympics and will have to settle for bronze for now. This is India’s sixth medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
