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MEDAL WINNERS FROM INDIA

YB WEB DESK. Dated: 9/26/2020 12:13:32 PM

Bajrang Punia

Bajrang Punia (born 26 February 1994) is a freestyle wrestler from India. He competes in 65 kg weight category. He has won three medals at the World Wrestling Championships. Life and family Punia was born in Khudan village of Jhajjar district in the state of Haryana, India. He began wrestling at the age of seven and was encouraged to pursue the sport by his father. Punia grew up in rural India, a poor part of the country. His family did not have money for traditional sports. Instead, he had to partake in free sports like wrestling and Kabaddi. Punia's father was a wrestler as well and at a young age, his family started him at a local mud wrestling school. There were no comic books or superheroes in India so Punia looked up to wrestlers. Punia started to skip school to go to wrestling practice. In 2015, his family moved to Sonepat so that he can attend a regional centre of Sports Authority of India. Currently, he works in Indian Railways on the post of Gazetted officer OSD Sports . Punia enjoys seeking out knowledge of his village elders. In 2020, Punia qualified India for The Olympics in freestyle wrestling. Due to COVID-19, the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics were postponed. Punia said that having to train for another year isn't like a postponed exam. Instead, he will have to start his training over. [ Career 2013 Asian Wrestling Championships In New Delhi, India, in the semi-final bout, Bajrang lost 3-1 to Hwang Ryonghak of North Korea to win the bronze medal in the men's freestyle 60 kg category. In the Round of 16, he faced Shogo Maeda of Japan, beating him 3-1. His opponent in the quarter-finals was Morad Hassan of Iran whom he beat 3-1 to qualify for the semi-finals. 2013 World Wrestling Championships In Budapest, Hungary, Bajrang won the bronze medal in the men's freestyle 60 kg category by qualifying for the bronze medal bout through the repechage round. There, he met Enkhsaikhany Nyam-Ochir of Mongolia and beat him 9- 2. In the Round of 32, he faced Vladimir Dubov of Bulgaria who beat him 7-0. With the Bulgarian grappler qualifying for the final bout, Bajrang then faced Shogo Maeda of Japan.