Tokyo Olympics: Bajrang Punia ‘disappointed’ with bronze medal – Grappler Bajrang Punia might have won a bronze medal in the Tokyo Olympics but the Indian wrestler is “disappointed” and wants to focus on bringing gold in Paris 2024.
Bajrang Punia won a bronze medal in the men’s freestyle 65kg category after defeating Kazakhstan’s Daulet Niyazbekov on Saturday. He defeated Niyazbekov 8-0 in the bronze medal match.
Tokyo Olympics: “I want to thank everyone for their prayer, love, and support as I could win a medal in Olympics. I also want to thank the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) and supporting staff,” Bajrang Punia said.
From Jhajjar to Japan! 🥉
Relive the moment as #IND grappler Bajrang Punia defeated #KAZ’s Daulet Niyazbekov to win his FIRST Olympic medal and India’s 6th #Tokyo2020 medal! 👏#UnitedByEmotion | #StrongerTogether| #BestOfTokyo | #Wrestling pic.twitter.com/WaXo3wPYXk
— #Tokyo2020 for India (@Tokyo2020hi) August 7, 2021
“I’m disappointed that I couldn’t win the gold medal but I’ll try to win it in Paris Olympics in 2024,” he added.
In the match between Punia and Niyazbekov, the former went on to take a 2-0 lead in the first period and all the pressure was on the Kazakh opponent heading into the last three minutes.
Tokyo Olympics: In the final three minutes, Bajrang managed to hold his own and he kept his opponent at bay walking away with a bronze medal.
Tokyo Olympics: Later, Bajrang Punia’s father revealed he could not give his 100% due to a knee injury that he was playing with in the bronze medal match.
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