India's Bajrang Punia clinched the country's sixth medal at the Olympics by winning a bronze medal in the men's wrestling freestyle 65kg category at the Tokyo Olympics on Saturday. Bajrang performed brilliantly to beat three-time Asian champion Daulette Niyazbekov 8-0.
This is India's sixth medal at this Olympics, equaling her best performance so far in the Games. He also won six medals (two silver, four bronze) at the 2012 London Olympics. This is India's fourth bronze at this Olympics after PV Sindhu (badminton), Lovlina Borgohain (boxing) and men's hockey team. India also won two silvers through Mirabai Chanu (weightlifting) and Ravi Kumar Dahiya (wrestling).
This is the second time after London that India has won two medals in wrestling in an edition of the Olympics. Bajrang is the sixth Indian wrestler to win a medal at the Olympics after KD Jadhav (Bronze, 1952), Sushil Kumar (Bronze, 2008 and Silver, 2012), Yogeshwar Dutt (Bronze, 2012), Sakshi Malik (Bronze, 2016) and Dahiya.
Niyazbekov is also a two-time world medalist, having won bronze in 2011 and silver in 2019, where he defeated Bajrang in a very close contest. However, Bajrang had defeated Niyazbekov in his last match earlier this year.
Here second seed Bajrang dominated from the start against Niyazbekov, who was seeded one place lower than him. Niyazbekov was accused of inaction in the first period and failed to score with the inaction clock and Bajrang then dismissed him to earn another point and lead 2–0.
Niyazbekov struggled to impose himself on the bout as Bajrang's defense was strong and the Indian's superior conditioning reaped rewards as the bout progressed as he successfully executed several takedowns and eventually won by a comfortable margin.
Bajrang had earlier lost 5-12 to three-time world champion Haji Aliyev of Azerbaijan in the semi-finals on Friday.
Bajrang was the first to score in the semi as his opponent was punished for inaction, but it was the Azerbaijani wrestler who won the next nine points and took a 9–1 lead. Aliyev won his points with a takedown and also successfully executed a leg lace.
Bajrang made a comeback in the second period on his better conditioning and narrowed the lead to 9-5 after a few successful takedowns of his own, but Aliyev used all his experience to good effect and eventually ended 11-5. Extended the lead before. Winning another point after an unsuccessful challenge from the Indian camp.
Bajrang's progress in the last four of the 65kg freestyle wrestling division in Tokyo was completely obsolete. Awkwardly on the mat on Friday, Bajrang did enough to win his first match against Kyrgyzstan's Ernazar Akmataliev. He then had a bit of luck against the Cheka, securing a pin after his opponent - with about a minute and a half to go into the bout - missed a go down and rolled for a pin.
The trump card of 27-year-old Bajrang, on the basis of which he has won an unprecedented three medals for an Indian at the World Championships, is his relentless pressure and conditioning.
In his pre-quarterfinal bout, Bajrang defeated Kyrgyzstan's Akmataliev 3–3, in a bout that was closer to his liking. Unlike Akmataliev, who won one point each in three separate moves, the Indian went ahead on the norm, as he scored two points in a single trick.
To counter this, Akmataliev - a wrestler who pinned world champion Ilyas Bekbulatov in the Asian qualifiers to secure his place at the Olympic Games - was wary from the start, conceding a point on the shotclock. However, Bajrang was on the defensive. Once Akmataliev realized this, he intensified his offense and scored at the push out. After Akhmataliev was careless in the last second of the first period, Bajrang slipped past him to go up 3-1, with two points proving crucial for the takedown in the end. Bajrang is usually very strong in the second half, thanks to his stamina and late bursts, but he appears content to try for the win this time as the bout enters its final seconds. However, Akmataliev made a final charge in the final 19 seconds, managing a push and then another with almost eight seconds on the clock, to make it 3-3. The Indian's two-point move helped him take the lead in the match.
In the quarterfinal against Cheka, it was clear that Bajrang was not wrestling in his familiar style. He received a rare caution for passivity and Irani went into the first period with a point (thirty seconds in which she had to score or receive a point penalty) after Bajrang opted not to attempt to score at shotclock. . Irani grabbed Bajrang's right leg and nearly got a takedown in the second period, but the Indian managed to pull off that threat. Perhaps for the first time in his international career, Bajrang took a second precaution for inaction and was once again put on the shotclock. Irani, instead of waiting, went for another takedown, but missed his attempt to lift the Indian and finished under him. Bajrang needed all this luck as he forced the shoulder blades of his Iranian opponent to the canvas for the win.
The way Bajrang's matches have gone - strategy or physical limitations - is not certain. He suffered an injury while participating in the Ali Aliyev tournament in Russia a few weeks before the Olympics. His coach Shako Bentinidis, however, said the injury was not serious.
Aliyev won a bronze medal in the 57kg category at the Rio Olympics in 2016 and his international career is probably coming to an end at the age of 30.