Tokyo 2020: Twitterati celebrates as wrestler Bajrang Punia clinches the sixth medal for India


Tokyo 2020: Twitterati celebrates as wrestler Bajrang Punia clinches the sixth medal for India

Bajrang Punia

The Indian contingent named yet another medal to their name at Tokyo 2020 as wrestler Bajrang Punia won his bronze medal match. The 27-year-old grappler beat Daulet Niyazbekov of Kazakhstan by 8-0 to end his country’s journey in wrestling on a high note.

Punia was competing in the bronze medal match of the men’s 65kg freestyle wrestling event after suffering a loss in the semi-final bout against Haji Aliyev of Azerbaijan. 

Punia began his match after gaining a point owing to passivity from his opponent. Following this, he pushed the Kazakh out of bounds to gain one point and enter the second round with a lead of 2-0. He didn’t stop here and took an even more aggressive role in the last three minutes.

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Punia took two points soon after, as he converted and defended himself. The Indian gained a couple of more points with just under a minute left on the clock. The 65kg wrestler got another two points with half a minute left on the clock and was all over his Kazakh opponent who completely looked out of moves. Bajrang ended the bout with an astonishing score of 8-0 on the board.

Bajrang’s glory marked India’s second medal in wrestling at the ongoing Games as earlier Ravi Kumar Dahiya had clinched the silver medal in the men’s 57kg freestyle event. Moreover, Punia has helped India level their best-ever Olympics performance with a tally of six medals. 

Punia is also India’s flag-bearer at the closing ceremony of the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympic Games.

Twitter reactions on Bajrang Punia’s historic performance

Soon after the Indian wrestler wrote his name in the books of history, netizens were quick to react and share their heartfelt messages and wishes for Bajrang Punia.

https://twitter.com/PhogatRitu/status/1423964739760132096

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