Tokyo 2020: Bajrang Punia to fight for bronze after losing to Haji Aliyev

A breathless Bajrang Punia slapped the mat in anger as Haji Aliyev escaped his grasp one last time and the 65kg freestyle wrestling semi-final came to an end. One of India’s brightest chances for a gold medal had gone up in smoke.

Just like some of India’s other big medal hopefuls, Bajrang simply could not bring his best to the Olympic stage.

Aliyev, the three-time world champion and Rio Games bronze medallist dominated the semi-final in the 65kg category for a 5-12 victory at the Makuhari Messi Hall.

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Each time Punia threatened to launch his trademark final flurry of attacks, Aliyev defended strongly and denied Punia the opening. The signs were ominous for the Indian from the start. He trailed the opening round 1-4. To make matters worse, Aliyev increased the gap to 8-1 in the middle of the second period. Aliyev had Punia’s legs in a lock and twisted him for points. Punia just about escaped from a technical fall. His face was lined with worry. Aliyev was getting hold of Punia’s legs repeatedly.

As the seconds ticked away, Punia tried, a little too late, to get in a big throw. He locked in a head lock and looked for a four-point throw but Aliyev held his ground.

With one minute and 20 secs left on the clock, Punia made it to 3-8 with a takedown. But Aliyev increased it to 9-3 in quick time with a step out. Ill at ease, Punia got another takedown and added two more points with less than 50 seconds left, enough time still for Punia to cover the deficit. After all, he had taken out Morteza Ghiasi Cheka of Iran by fall within the last few seconds in the quarter-finals.

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But Aliyev proved to be a tougher challenge. He effortlessly evaded Punia.

This was the world No 2 wrestler, who has been on a roll in the last two seasons, winning medals at two world championships and a Asian Games gold. He walked off without speaking to anyone.

“This is the Olympics, you have to be in a psychological battle. The referring was also poor but I don’t want to make any excuses,” said his coach Emzarios Shako Bentinidis.

Asked about Bajrang’s knee that he hurt during a bout last month, Bentinidis said, “his knee is fine.”

But the day’s action was very unlike the way Punia usually goes about things. In both his quarterfinal and semifinal bouts, he got penalized for being too passive. In both bouts he struggled to find an opening for his attack. In the quarterfinal against Cheka, he was trailing 1-0 the entire bout before he turned a Cheka attack into a pin. It was a remarkable turnaround, but it also involved a little bit of luck.

Punia, in his first Olympics, now has to try for a bronze, where he will meet the winner of the repechage.

“It’s like a final. He must get a medal. This is an important situation,” said Bentinidis. “If you go to the final, you have an assured second place. But tomorrow, you have nothing to give away. You need to have double concentration.”

Aliyev will take on Japan’s Takuto Otoguro in the final. Takuto defeated Russian world champion Gadzhimurad Rashidov in a gripping semifinal.