Hello and welcome to Sportstar's live coverage of Indian wrestler Bajrang Punia's bronze medal match in the 65kg freestyle category at the Tokyo Olympics.
He wins bronze. That's medal no. 6 for India in Tokyo. What a bout. Over to Neeraj Chopra in Athletics.
Period 2
Bajrang on the offensive here. Niyazbekov putting up a great defensive show, escaping the catches. Bajrang makes it 4-0 now! 6-0 now! 50 seconds to go. 8-0! Bajrang cruising. What a win for Bajrang Punia.
Period 1
Bajrang's not wearing his knee brace. Both wrestlers still feeling their way into the bout. Niyazbekov penalised for inactivity. Bajrang gets a point! He makes it 2-0 now, does Bajrang.
Bajrang's bout gets underway. In he comes ... Daulet makes his way to the mat. We are all set!
Indian wrestler Bajrang Punia lost to three time world champion Haji Aliyev 12-5 in the semifinal of the 65kg category. He will play for bronze on Saturday. He will face Daulet Niyazbekov. Bajrang's bout is scheduled to start at 4:00 PM IST. Bajrang's bout will take place at Makuhari Messe Hall A Mat B.
Bajrang Form guide: 2021: Gold at Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series, Italy; Silver at Asian championships, Kazakhstan; 2020: Silver at Asian championships in Delhi.
PREVIEW
Westler Bajrang Punia’s dream of winning an Olympic gold medal was shattered as he lost to three-time world champion Haji Aliyev 12-5 in their 65kg semifinal bout on Friday.
Bajrang has a chance to win the bronze medal on Saturday. Bajrang will become the second Indian wrestler to finish on the podium at the Tokyo Olympics if he wins.
Bajrang’s coach Shako Bendinitis felt the refereeing was poor and had a large impact on the result. "The referee was not on Bajrang's side today and it affected him psychologically," he said.
"Tomorrow is a new day and Bajrang has an even more important match. You are assured of at least a silver medal when you go into a final, but you have nothing if you lose tomorrow."
Bajrang sneaked past Kyrgyzstan's Ernazar Akmataliev in his first bout and then got past Iran's Morteza Cheka Ghiasi at the very death of their quarterfinal bout. The Indian, who had a small limp walking into the arena, was put on the activity clock twice against the Iranian. Bajrang managed a buzzer-beating pin on Akmataliev to move into the medal round.
The second-ranked Bajrang had injured his right knee during the Ali Aliyev memorial tournament in Russia in June.
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