Wrestling star Bajrang Punia's perennial leg-defence weakness came to haunt him at the big stage as he lost the men's freestyle 65kg semifinal to three-time world champion Haji Aliev on Friday (August 6) and the Indian wrestler will now fight for bronze medal at the Olympic Games on Saturday (August 7). He will face either Senegal's Adama Diatta or Kazakhstan's Daulet Niyazbekov in the medal match.
Meanwhile, Punia's father Balwan Singh is confident his son will bring a medal for India from the Tokyo Olympics.
"In the morning Bajrang called me and he was looking happy. I said 'that you didn't play your game. I watched all your three matches and you were not playing your usual self. You were just playing mentally and couldn't attack properly," Balwan Singh told ANI on Saturday.
"He will not return empty-handed. I told him you are not losing son, you are winning and give your best even today," Balwan Singh added.
Punia beginning his Tokyo 2020 campaign, won both games comprehensively. The Indian wrestler first defeated Ernazar Akmataliev of Kyrgyzstan in the 1/8 Final and then beat Iran's Morteza Ghiasi Cheka by pinning him down to the mat (victory by fall) in the 1/4 Final.
However, on Friday, Bajrang faced a crushing defeat in the semifinals of the Tokyo Olympics at the hands of the Rio Olympics bronze-winner Aliev of Azerbaijan. Aliyev defeated Bajrang 12-5 as the former dominated proceedings from the word go.
