Tokyo Olympics Wrestling: Deepak Punia loses semis, to battle for bronze now

Indian wrestler Deepak Punia lost his 86kg category semifinal at Tokyo Olympics to United States' David Morris Taylor III and will now fight for bronze medal.

Indian wrestler Deepak Punia failed to emulate his countrymate Ravi Kumar Dahiya and lost his 86kg category semifinal to American wrestler David Morris Taylor III at the Tokyo Olympics on Wednesday (August 4). Punia will now compete in the bronze medal match on Thursday (August 5) evening. Taylor comprehensively thrashed Punia in the semifinals, emerging victorious with a 10-0 margin inside the first period.  Earlier, Punia showed no signs of the niggle that had forced him to pull out of the Poland Open Ranking Series in Warsaw in June, as he defeated China’s Lin Zushen 6-3 in the quarterfinals to set up a last-four clash with former world champion David Morris of the USA. Punia, silver medallist at the 2019 world championships, was staring at an early exit but the 22-year-old managed a two-point takedown in the final 10 seconds of his bout against the Chinese to keep his Tokyo medal hopes alive.