CHENNAI: Indian wrestler Bajrang Punia was not his usual self when he took the mat at the Makuhari Messe Hall on Friday morning. He might have made it to the 65kg semifinals by winning two consecutive bouts but the victories were not convincing by his standards.
Heavy strapping around Bajrang's right knee is not an ideal sight. There were indication of a knee injury even before he took the mat. Going by the way the matches panned out on Friday, it was ceratin that he was carrying some kind of injury. While he was declared winner on criteria against Ernazar Akmataliev of Kyrgyzstan in the first bout, his next opponent Morteza Ghiasi Cheka from Iran ran him close before Bajrang emerged victorious by fall in the second period.
Bajrang was not moving as freely as he used to. He is known to exert pressure on his opponents with his forward-moving style but surprisingly that was missing so much so that he was put on activity clock twice in the quarterfinal for being passive by the referee.
The 27-year-old Haryana wrestler might have used his vast experience to get past the first two rivals, but Haji Aliyev from Azerbaijan, a three-time world champion, made the best use of situation and kept attacking his leg to register a comprehensive 12-5 win in the semifinal.
"It's quite evident that the knee injury he sustained in Russia in June is still troubling him otherwise Aliyev in no way could have won with such a big margin. We haven't spoken to him or his coach Shako Bentinidis yet as he is scheduled to compete in the bronze medal bout tomorrow (Saturday). Let him finish it then we will speak to him," said a Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) official from Tokyo.
Bajrang sustained the injury while competing in the Ali Aliyev Tournament in Russia. The injury kept him out of the mat for almost two weeks ahead of the Olympics.
Trailing 1-4 after the first period, Bajrang went on the offensive in the second and final period but Aliyev effected counter takedown to extend the lead to 8-1. Bajrang though narrowed down the lead by getting two takedowns but the big move, he is known for, never came as he stood helpless on the mat.
Bajrang will most probably face Daulet Niyazbekov of Kazakhstan in the bronze medal playoff if the latter wins his repechage round against Adama Diatta of Senegal. Daulet is 2019 World Championships silver medallist. En route victory, the Kazakh scored a controversial 9-9 victory over Bajrang in the semifinal. Aware of what's ailing Bajrang, Daulet will put him to the test especially with the Olympic medal at stake on Saturday.
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Seema ousted
Meanwhile, Indian woman wrestler Seema Bisla (50kg), who was making her Olympic debut, lost her opening round bout 1-3 to Tunisia's Sarra Hamdi. The Tunisian wrestlers went on to lose the next round drawing curtains on Seema's campaign as well. As many as four women including medal prospect Vinesh Phogat (53kg) from the country made the Olympic cut but all of them made an early exit from the Games.