Asian Games 2018: Gladiator Bajrang Punia hits gold

Bajrang Punia celebrates after winning the freestyle wrestling (65kg) final against Japan's Daichi Takatani at the Asian Games in Jakarta yesterday. Pic/PTI

Bajrang Punia battled his way to India's first gold medal at the Asian Games here yesterday like a Gladiator, just like in the Hindi dubbed version of the English hit movie shown to him before his bouts by personal coach - Georgian Emzario Bentinidis - as a motivational exercise. Bajrang beat Japan's Takatani Daichi 11-8 to win gold in the 65kg category in a see-saw battle that had everyone at the Jakarta Convention Centre Assembly Hall here on the edge of their seats.

The Indian, who won all his three earlier round matches by technical superiority (he beat Uzbekistan's Sirojiddin 13-3, Tajikistan's Fayziev Abdulqosim 12-2 and Mongolian Batmagnai Batchuluu 10-2) seemed to be cruising to gold when he took a 6-0 lead in the first of two rounds. However, the Japanese wrestler fought back and finished the round with the score reading 4-6 in favour of Bajrang. The second round was even more thrilling. A move by Daichi earned him two points and it was even stevens. But this was just the trigger Bajrang needed. He twisted and turned the Japanese on the mat to take the lead once again before a minor controversy unfolded. Both wrestlers were awarded two points for a move by Bajrang when only the Indian deserved those points.

The Indian camp thought of throwing in the sponge cube to signal a challenge, but since Bajrang was leading, they did not want the bout to be stopped for a review as that would give the Japanese time to catch his breath. Bajrang held on and eventually prevailed by a hair's breadth and the Indian fans who, a few hours ago, were disappointed by champion grappler Sushil Kumar's first-round defeat, went berserk.

"I want to dedicate this medal to our former Prime Minister, late Atal Bihari Vajpayee," Bajrang said immediately after his win. Bajrang, 24, was also proud to emulate his guru and London Olympics bronze-winning grappler Yogeshwar Dutt, who had clinched top honours at Incheon 2014. "Yogeshwar told me that he won it in 2014 and I will have to win it this time. It's a very satisfying achievement," said Bajrang, who has won three gold medals this year already - at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in April, at the Tbilisi Grand Prix in Georgia and the Yasar Dogu event in Istanbul, Turkey.

Speaking about the tough final, Bajrang said he was expecting it. "You can't say anything in wrestling. I was leading, then he equalised. This keeps happening. If you keep thinking too much about how the bout is progressing, you might lose your grip on the game, so you just have to keep giving it your 100 per cent all the time," he said. So, where's the party tonight? "I don't know but it will only be a brief celebration because when I get back home, I will get down to preparing for the World Championships. If you win a medal at the Asian Games you become a serious contender for the Olympics and I am already preparing for Tokyo," he signed off.

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