Bajrang Punia storms into the finals
Bajrang Punia defeated Mongolia's Batmagnai Batchuluun 10-0 to assure himself a medal at Jakarta Palembang.
Published : Aug 19, 2018 17:04 IST
After shooters Apurvi Chandela and Ravi Kumar opened India’s medal tally, wrestler Bajrang Punia confirmed India another medal as he stormed into the finals of the 65 kg wrestling event at his second Asian Games in style.
He won the semifinal by technical superiority thrashing his Mongolian opponent Batmagnai Batchuluun.
Just two minutes and a half into the match the 2014 Incheon silver medallist notched up a lead of 8-0. After four minutes Bajrang held on to Batchuluun’s leg firmly to gift himself the necessary two points to hand himself the victory.
Prior to the start of this edition of the Asian Games, Bajrang had told Sportstar , "We will do well. Everyone expects me to win gold and my confidence is high. Since I have won golds in the last two outings, I will expect to keep it going in the Asian Games."
Meanwhile, earlier in the day, two-time Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar was stunned in a major upset, by Bahrain’s Adam Batirov in the 74 kg category.