Deepak Punia loses 86kg Olympic wrestling semifinal, moves to bronze medal match

Deepak had got past Nigeria's Ekerekeme Agiomor, the African championship bronze medalist, in his opening bout. He then defated China's Lin Zushen in a tightly-fought quarterfinal.

Indian wrestler Deepak Punia lost in the semifinal.

World championships silver medallist Deepak Punia was outclassed by former World champion David Taylor of the USA in a men's freestyle 86kg semifinal bout of the Tokyo Olympics on Wednesday. Punia now moves to the bronze medal match.

Taylor made short work of Deepak to establish a 10-0 lead in the opening period of the bout and set up a title clash with current World and Olympic champion Hassan Yazdani of Iran.

Deepak also began the day by claiming his opening bout on technical superiority as he beat African champion Nigerian Ekerekeme Agiomor 12-1.

 

After taking a 4-1 lead in the first period, Deepak widened his lead through push-outs and takedowns to finish the bout with a minute to spare and advance to the quarterfinals.

He staved off a strong challenge from Chinese Lin Zhusen to post a 6-3 win to make it to the semis.

Deepak established a 1-0 lead in the opening period, but the Chinese made it 1-1. Deepak’s takedown again put him in the lead, but Lin equalised again to level the scores at 3-3 and have the advantage of scoring the last points.

A desperate Deepak dug deep into his strength and agility to effect a spectacular takedown on the Chinese and took the bout.