India secured its second medal at the ongoing World Wrestling Championship after Bajrang Punia clinched a bronze medal in the 65 kg category. He beat Puerto Rico’s Sebastian Rivera 11-9 and added to his impressive tally of medals having also clinched Bronze at the Tokyo Olympics and Gold in the Commonwealth Games.
After losing in the quarterfinal bout to John Michael Diakomihalis of the USA, Bajrang secured entry into the repechage and was made to sweat before establishing his grip. Initially 0-6 down in the contest, the Indian grappler came from behind to win the contest by 11-9.
Bajrang had earlier beaten Vazgen Tevanyan of Armenia 7-6 by points to secure his passage into the bronze medal match. The contest was far from easy as he needed to battle out a tight contest.
The bronze medal is his fourth at the World Wrestling Championship, having previously won two bronze medals and a silver. In 2013 he won a bronze and then followed that with a silver in 2018. In 2019 he once again roused to the occasion and secured a bronze.
Despite having a huge caliber of stars in the championships, India had a disappointing output as they only managed to get grip on only two medals. Olympic silver medalist Ravi Dahiya was eliminated in the initial round and returned with empty hands while Vinesh Phogat also returned without a Gold.
Despite the success, India will be left empty handed in the Gold Medals count in the World Wrestling Championship. Vinesh beat Emma Malmgren of Sweden 8-0 to secure India's first medal in the championship.
