Bajrang Punia Beats Mongolia’s Tumur Ochir To Win World Wrestling Championship Bronze

Indian wrestler Bajrang Punia on Friday defeated his Mongolian opponent Tumur Ochir 8-7 in the 65kh weight category to win the bronze medal at the World Wrestling Championships. Punia, who had won the Silver last year, made a stunning comeback from 6-0 deficit to win the bout 8-7.

Punia faced a charged up Ochir, who took two points in the first 20 seconds and then bagged four more with a powerful chest throw. Down by 6-0, Punia tried to reduce to difference by scoring 2 points. At the end of the first round, Ochir looked all set to win the bout with the scorecard reading 6-2.

However, Punia, who suffered a heart-breaking defeat in the semi-final, had other things in mind. He came out too strong for Ochir to handle in the second round and collected 6 consecutive points with a leg shot. Now, the scorecard read 8-6 in favour of the Indian wrester.

Also Read | Amit Panghal Becomes First Indian Boxer To Reach World Men's Championship Final

In the end, the bout ended with the final scorecard reading 8-7 in favour of Punia. This was the second consecutive World Championship Medal for Punia. He had won the silver in 2018 World Wrestling Championships held in Budapest. With his qualification for the bronze medal bout, Punia was already qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Meanwhile, in other sports news, star Indian boxer Amit Panghal on Friday created history and became the first even Indian male boxer to reach the World Boxing Championship final in the 52 kg Flyweight category. The 2018 Asia Games gold medalist defeated Kazakhstan’s Saken Bibossinov in the hard-fought semifinal by points 3-2.