Jakarta: Bajrang Punia had made it clear that he wanted nothing less than a gold medal at the Asian Games and the wrestler did just that at the Jakarta Convention Center here on Sunday. Bajrang proved his class in the 65 kg freestyle event. The protege of Yogeshwar Dutt had overpowered his opponents en route to the final where he was stretched by Japan's Daichi Takatani. Though Bajrang raced away to a 6-0 lead, the tenacious Takatani fought back to 6-6. However, Bajrang delivered at the crunch to eke out an 11-8 win and realise his dream as he bettered the silver medal from Incheon four years back in 61 kg.
The 24-year-old Indian Railway employee from Haryana was the favourite for the gold considering he's ranked No. 2 in the world and he’s been in the form of his life this year.
"I dedicate this gold medal to former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who passed away recently," Bajrang said after the final bout.
"Yogi bhai (Olympic medallist Yogeshwar Dutt) told me 'I did it in 2014, you have to do it in 2018'. When he (Yogeshwar) won, it was huge gap in his and the previous Asiad medal. I wanted to continue with medal," he added.
Bajrang put on quite a show as he overpowered Sirojiddin Khasanov of Uzbekistan 13-3 in the opening round before outplaying Abdulqosim Fayziev of Tajikistan in the quarterfinals.
Batmagnai Batchuluun of Mongolia was no match for Bajrang in the semifinals as he was humbled 10-0.
Bajrang's stellar show made up for a rather disappointing day for the Indian grapplers as Sushil Kumar crashed out in the opening round of the 74 kg, while Sandeep Tomar and Mausam Khatri exited in the quarterfinals of the 57 and 97 kg respectively. Pawan Kumar was outclassed by Mongolia's Orgodolyn Uiltumen in the 86 kg bronze medal play-off.
