Bajrang Punia Enters Semi-Final, Next Bout 3pm IST For Place in Gold Medal Match

Bajrang Punia has opened his 2020 Tokyo Olympics campaign with two wins.

Tokyo Olympics: Bajrang Punia opened his campaign with a win

(Photo: UWW)

India’s ace wrestler Bajrang Punia continued his march in the Men’s 65kg freestyle event when defeated Iran’s Morteza Ghiasi Cheka in style to progress to the semi-final.

Bajrang, as he does more often than not, started off patiently and was even warned for being passive. The Iranian Morteza picked a point for that as well, but his coach was given a warning for intervening.

However, as the first round ended Bajrang trailed 0-1 with the Iranian and the Indian not willing to commit just yet.

The second round was quite different as both wrestlers were going for it and it was the Iranian who caught Bajrang in a leg hold. The Indian however defended the position brilliantly and then received a second warning for passivity.

With 90 seconds to go, Bajrang then turned up the ante and pinned down his Iranian opponent in a matter of seconds, winning the bout by fall and coming back in grand style, a manner which is trademark Bajrang.

Bajrang, the second seed in the draw opened his campaign at the Tokyo Games with a win against Kyrgyzstan's Ernazar Akmataliev.

Before the campaign had started, there were injury concerns regarding Bajrang’s right knee but the ace wrestler has, fortunately for Indian fans, recovered in time for the showpiece Games.