TIL Desk Sports/ Indian wrestling’s new star Bajrang Punia, on Sunday, set his eyes on a 2020 Tokyo Olympics gold medal after a triumphant Asian Games campaign in Jakarta. The 24-year-old extracted a ‘revenge win’ over Japan’s Takatani Daichi in the gold medal bout of the men’s 65 kg category. Bajrang raced to a 6-0 lead in the final, but the Japanese, to whom he had lost in the Asian Championships, made a spirited comeback with some solid attack and defence.
However, Bajrang prevailed after a tight battle to claim gold and declared it was his biggest achievement so far. “This is my biggest gold medal; if you win here then you are a contender at the Tokyo Olympics. I have an eye at Tokyo Games and preparing for that. I will try to produce the same performance at the World Championships also,” Bajrang said after his victory.
“There are very few gold for Indian wrestlers in Asiad. So it is a big achievement for me. Only Yogeshwar and Rajinder Singh have won two gold medals in a year (Commonwealth Games and Asiad), I am only the third to do it, so, naturally, I am feeling proud of myself.” Before Bajrang, only Kartar Singh (1978, 1986), Satpal Singh (1982), Rajinder Singh (1978), Changdi Ram (1970), Maruti Mane (1962) and Yogeshwar Dutt (2014) won gold at the Asian Games.
