Bajrang Punia becomes 1st Indian to win 4 medals at World Wrestling C'ships, wins bronze in Belgrade

Bajrang Punia becomes 1st Indian to win 4 medals at World Wrestling C'ships, wins bronze in Belgrade

Last Updated Sep - 18 - 2022, 11:25 PM | Source : PTI

Belgrade: Ace grappler Bajrang Punia became the only Indian to claim four medals at the World Wrestling Championships by clinching a bronze in the current edition on Sunday. Bajrang, who won a bronze in last year's Tokyo Olympics, eked out a close 11-9 win on points over Sebastian C Rivera of Puerto Rico in one of the bronze medal bouts.

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Bajrang, who lost to John Michael Diakomihalis of USA in the quarterfinals, qualified for the bronze medal contest through the repechage round where he defeated Vazgen Tevanyan of Armenia 7-6 by points.

It is Bajrang's third bronze in the world. The celebrated Indian wrestler had earlier won bronze at in 2013, silver in 2018, and bronze in 2019.

India had fielded a 30-member team for the ongoing World Championships but produced a below-par performance, securing just two medals.

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Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Ravi Kumar Dahiya had crashed out early and failed to secure a podium finish.

Besides Bajrang, Vinesh Phogat won her second World Championship bronze medal in the women's 53kg category.

Vinesh had defeated Emma Malmgren of Sweden 8-0 to claim the bronze here.

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