Not the result I wanted: Bajrang Punia

He did not live up to the skyhigh expectations but Indiarsquos Bajrang Punia will return from Tokyo with a bronze medal on Olympic debut after outwitting Daulet Niyazbekov in the menrsquos freestyle 65kg playoff here on SaturdayIf his defence let him down in the semifinal against Hazi Aliev Bajrangrsquos smart attacking moves made him a 80 winner against Kazakhstanrsquos Niyazbekov to whom he had lost in the semifinals of the 2019 World ChampionshipThe medalwinning performance saved Bajrang and the Indian wrestling contingent from embarrassment since the wrestlers had entered Tokyo with high expectations After medalfavourite Vinesh Phogatrsquos shock quarterfinal exit and Bajrangrsquos below par show in the first three matches a pall of gloom had descended on the Indian wrestling contingentRising to the occasionHowever he rose to the occasion with a comfortable win Aware of the weight of expectations he was carrying Bajrang knows this is not a result that would give him satisfaction ldquoI am not happy This is not the result I had set out to achieve Winning an Olympic medal is no mean achievement but I canrsquot jump with joy with bronzerdquo Bajrang said The Haryana grappler said the knee injury he suffered in the run up to the Games did impact his performance ldquoI would have played differently but for this injury It indeed was an issue It did trouble me and played on my mind But I did not have the option to rest After the semifinal I had to give my all and I did thatrdquo Bajrang addedAlso Read Tokyo 2020 Wrestler Bajrang Punia loses in semis to fight for bronze nowWith Bajrangrsquos medal Indian wrestlers have matched their best performance at the Olympics by earning two podium finishes Ravi Dahiya had won an inspiring silver medal in the 57kg categoryAt the 2012 London Games Sushil Kumar had won a silver and Yogeshwar Dutt returned with a bronze Bajrang earned the first point on passivity of Niyazbekov as standing wrestling was on display Bajrang initiated a rightleg attack but Niyazbekov had the Indian in a headlock Bajrang freed himself from the position and earned another point by pushing out the Kazakhstan wrestler leading 20 at the end of first period His rightleg attack again did not convert into points with Niyazbekov again stopping him with his headlockCommanding leadBajrang kept attacking and finally executed a takedown with a rightleg attack He repeated the move for a commanding 60 lead and took it away from Niyazbekov with another move on the leftleg Niyazbekov was surprisingly very subdued after coming to the playoff with a win in the repechage roundAlso Read Tokyo Olympics Bajrang Punia powers into semis after pinning Morteza ChekaThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever