Bajrang, Ravi get bronze, Sushil beaten in Round 1

Nur-Sultan (Kazakhstan), Sept 20 

Shrugging off his controversial semifinal defeat, Bajrang Punia bagged his third World Championships medal while Ravi Dahiya made his debut memorable by grabbing bronze. Bajrang was already India’s only multiple time medallist at the Worlds and he consolidated his record with a narrow 8-7 win over Mongloia’s Tulga Tumur Ochir, the U-23 Asian champion. He held off a spirited challenge from Ochir who had raced to a 6-0 lead but Bajrang made a comeback in the second period.

Dahiya was up against Reza Ahmadali Atrinagharchi, the reigning Asian champion from Iran, and capped his stunning debut with a 6-3 win in the bronze medal bout. Dahiya had shocked Arsen Harutunyan, the 61kg European champion from Armenia and world No. 3 Yuki Takahashi of Japan before losing to Zaur Uguev of Russia. This was India’s third medal of the championships — all bronze. Vinesh Phogat had won the bronze in the women’s 53kg category. The last time India won three medals at the Worlds was in 2013 when Amit Dahiya, Bajrang and Sandeep Tulsi Yadav stood on the podium.

“I will never forget what they did to me. I was so heartbroken that I did not want to fight for bronze today,” Bajrang said, referring to his controversial semifinal defeat against Daulet Niyazbekov. “The whole world saw what they did. I had worked so hard for the World Championships gold. I appeal to the UWW to do something about it. I agreed to compete in the bronze medal bout after coaches insistence. I am glad I gave India third World Championships medal,” he added.

Ochir put Bajrang under a lot of pressure from the beginning as he pushed the Indian outside the mat to take the lead. He locked Bajrang’s arms to prevent attacks and then effected a four-point throw to lead 6-0. 

In the second period, Bajrang erased the deficit and then took lead with a flurry of moves to eventually nail a narrow 8-7 win. 

Bajrang had won the silver last year and the bronze in the 2013 edition in Budapest. 

It was his first tournament of the season where Bajrang did not make the final though he qualified for the Tokyo Olympics in this championship.

First-round loss for Sushil 

Sushil Kumar lost his first-round bout against Azerbaijan’s Khadzhimurad Gadzhiyev 9-11 in the 74kg category. In the opening period, Sushil managed to send Gadzhiyev off the mat and took a lead of 8-2. However, Gadzhiyev fought back to cut Sushil’s lead to 9-6. Gadzhiyev then managed to push Sushil off the mat to take a 10-8 lead and then won a bonus point to emerge victorious with a scoreline of 11-9. — Agencies