Highlight
- Bajrang won the bronze medal in the 65kg category, giving India the second place in the championship.
- Vinesh Phogat had earlier won a bronze medal in the 53kg category.
- Success comes after winning Olympic bronze and Commonwealth gold
India secured its second medal at the ongoing World Wrestling Championships after Bajrang Punia won a bronze medal in the 65kg category. He defeated Puerto Rico’s Sebastian Rivera 11-9 to add to his impressive medal tally, winning bronze at the Tokyo Olympics and gold at the Commonwealth Games.
After losing to John Michael Diakomihalis of USA in the quarterfinal bout, Bajrang secured an entry in repechage and worked up a sweat before establishing his hold. Initially down 0-6 in the competition, the Indian wrestler came from behind to win the competition 11-9.
Bajrang had earlier entered the bronze medal match by defeating Vazhen Tevanyan of Armenia 7-6. The match was not easy as he needed to give a tough fight.
The bronze medal is his fourth at the World Wrestling Championship, having previously won two bronze medals and one silver. In 2013 he won the bronze and then in 2018 he won the silver medal. In 2019, he once again rose to the occasion and won a bronze medal.
Despite having a large caliber of stars in the championship, India had a disappointing performance as they managed to hold on to only two medals. Olympic silver medalist Ravi Dahiya was out in the opening round and returned empty-handed while Vinesh Phogat also returned without a gold.
Despite the success, India will remain empty handed in the count of gold medals in the World Wrestling Championship. Vinesh defeated Emma Malmgren of Sweden 8-0 to give India its first medal in the championship.