Tokyo Olympics wrestling: Bajrang Punia goes down fighting, to vie for bronze now

Indian wrestler Bajrang Punia valiantly lost his 65kg semifinal to Haji Aliyev and will now battle a bronze on Saturday (August 7).

Indian wrestler Bajrang Punia went down fighting valiantly to Haji Aliyev of Azerbaijan in their 65kg category semifinal at the Tokyo Olympics on Friday (August 6). Bajrang lost 12-5 to the 2016 Rio Olympic medallist Aliyev. The Indian grappler will now battle for a bronze medal on Saturday (August 7). Bajrang's opponent in bronze medal bout is likely to be reigning World silver medalist Daulet Niyazbekov on Saturday at 315pm IST. Bajrang lost to Daulet in 2019 World Championships but got the better of him 2 months back.  Earlier, true to his style, Bajrang put his tactical acumen and strength to good use in the second period to pin Iran’s Morteza Cheka Ghiasi for a semifinal berth in the men’s free-style 65kg event which took him closer to an Olympic medal on debut. Bajrang trailed the Iranian for a major part of the bout after being severely crippled by Ghiasi's defensive tactics, especially the body-locks.