Bajrang Punia loses Olympic wrestling semifinal, coach says refereeing was poor

Indian wrestler Bajrang Punia's coach Shako Bentinidis said the refereeing was poor and had a major impact on the final result.

Haji Aliyev of Team Azerbaijan competes against Bajrang Punia of Team India during the Men’s Freestyle 65kg semifinal.

Indian wrestler Bajrang Punia's coach Shako Bentinidis said the refereeing in the semifinal of the 65kg category was poor and had an impact on the final result. Punia lost to three-time world champion Haji Aliyev 12-5 on Friday. He will play for bronze on Saturday.

Bajrang had suffered an injury while competing at the Ali Aliyev tournament in Russia a few weeks before the Olympics. Bentinidis has, however, said that the injury was not serious. "Everything is good," he said.

 

"Bajrang will have to recover well for tomorrow's bout - If you make it to the final, then you are assured of a medal. Now he needs to win tomorrow. Else he will have nothing (no medal) to take home."