Tokyo Games bronze medalist Bajrang struggled to win a bronze medal on Sunday, losing 3-5 in his opening bout against Uzbekistan’s Abbos Rakhmonov.
Bajrang Punia won the bronze medal in Almaty on Sunday (Reuters Photo)
Wrestler Bajrang Punia bounced back from a poor opening round defeat to clinch the bronze medal with a commanding show in the 57kg competition at the Bolat Turlikhanov Cup in Almaty on Sunday.
Bajrang, who won the Tokyo Olympics bronze medal, suffered an early round loss to Uzbekistan’s Abbos Rahkamonov due to his over-defensive strategy. However, he returned with a 7–0 win in the bronze medal play-off against Kazakhstan’s Rifat Sabotalov.
Tokyo Games bronze winner Bajrang struggled to lose 3-5 in his opening bout against Uzbekistan’s Abbos Rakhmonov, but did better in the bronze play-offs, where he scored 7 in a counter-attack against Kazakhstan’s Rifat Sabotalov. -0 win. ,
In 57kg, Aman, who trains at Chhatrasal Stadium with Tokyo Olympic silver medalist Ravi Dahiya, impressed and won the gold medal, his first at the senior level in an international event.
He started with a 15–12 win over Mirambek Kartabe in the high-scoring opening bout, followed by a technical superiority win over Kyrgyzstan’s Abdimlik Karachov.
In his final bout, he defeated Kazakhstan’s Mere Bazarbayev 10–9 to claim the gold to remain unbeaten in the five-wrestler category.
This is the third medal this season for Aman, who has won silver in Dan Kolov and bronze in Yasar Dogu.
Meanwhile, Vishal Kaliramana (70kg) and Naveen (74kg) missed out on podium finishes after losing in the bronze medal round.
Thus India signed off from the wrestling tournament in Almaty with 12 medals from the Ranking Series event, with female wrestlers claiming eight of them, including five golds.