Wrestler Deepak Punia’s silver brings cheer to Jhajjar residents
Ravinder Saini
Jhajjar, October 7
A day after Olympic medallist and local lad Bajrang Punia’s debacle in the Asian Games, Deepak Punia, a native of Chhara village here, today gave local residents a reason to cheer by clinching a silver medal in the same tournament.
Though Deepak lost to Iran’s Hassan Yazdanicharati in the men’s 86kg freestyle final, residents of Chhara village celebrated his medal winning performance by distributing sweets and dancing to drum beats as Bajrang’s defeat had left them disappointed and they were not expecting a medal from Deepak.
“We were quite confident about Bajrang’s medal in the Asian Games, but he suffered a major setback when he lost in the tournament yesterday. All were disappointed. After his defeat, we were not expecting a medal from Deepak as his rival wrestlers were very strong and even Olympic medallists, but he rekindled our hopes for medal by registering a marvellous victory in his first bout,” said Virendra Singh of Chhara village.
He maintained Deepak could not get enough time to practice due to the wrestlers’ protest in Delhi. “He practiced merely 15 days for the tournament. Despite this, Deepak brought laurels to the state as well as the nation. We are quite confident that he will perform well in the Olympics scheduled next year,” he added.
Subhash Punia, the elated father, said Deepak missed the opportunity of clinching gold in the Asian Games, but he would definitely take revenge for it by defeating Iran’s wrestler in Olympics and would secure a gold for India. “Despite stiff competition, Deepak was confident about his medal winning performance in the tournament,” he added.
