Wrestling | Bajrang Punia assures silver as he enter finals of Senior World Championships

10/22/2018

Bajrang Punia has registered a win over Alenjandra Valdes Tobie of Cuba in the semi-final held at Budapest and becomes the fourth Indian to reach the final. However, if he wins gold there, it will be a great achievement for him as he will win titles at all major championships in a single season.

Along with Sushil Kumar, who reached the finals in 2010, and Amit Dahiya in 2013, now, a 24-year-old Punia, who won a bronze medal in the 2013 edition of the tournament, has reached the final for the first time in his career.

In 1967, retired Indian wrestler Bishambar Singh had also reached the final and registered a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games and bronze at the Asian Games in freestyle wrestling.

Punia showcased a massive work in the semi-final as he dominated the standing wrestling, and took a 4-0 lead.

Meanwhile, in the middle of the round, Tobie brought down the difference to three points, but that was not enough for a win. Punia had also beaten Mongolian Tulga Tumur Ochir with a scoresheet of 5-3 to enter the freestyle 65 kg semis on the second day.

Punia will wrestle with Japan’s Takuto Otoguro in the finals who defeated Akhmed Chakaev of Russia 15-10 in the other semi-final.