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.

Bajrang Punia
President Pranab Mukherjee presenting the Arjuna Award for 2015 to Punia
Personal information
NationalityIndian
Born (1994-02-26) 26 February 1994
Khudan, Jhajjar, Haryana, India
Height1.66 m (5 ft 5 in)
Weight65 kg (143 lb)
Sport
CountryIndia
SportWrestling
Event(s)Freestyle
Coached byEmzarios Bentinidis

Life and family

Punia was born in Jat family in Khudan village of Jhajjar district in the state of Haryana, India.[2][3] He began wrestling at the age of seven and was encouraged to pursue the sport by his father.[4] 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.[5] Punia's father was a wrestler as well and at a young age, his family started him at a local mud wrestling school.[5] There were no comic books or superheroes in India so Punia looked up to wrestlers.[5] Punia started to skip school to go to wrestling practice.[5] 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 .[3] Punia enjoys seeking out knowledge of his village elders.[5]

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.[5]

Career

2013 Asian Wrestling Championships

In New Delhi, India, in the semi-final bout, Bajrang lost 3-1 to Hwang Ryong-hak 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.[6]

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 and earned a walkover. His next opponent was Ivan Guidea of Romania, and with a 10-3 win over the Romanian, Bajrang earned a spot in the bronze medal bout.

2014 Commonwealth Games

In Glasgow, Scotland, he won the silver medal in the men's freestyle 61 kg category, after losing 1-4 to David Tremblay of Canada.

In the Round of 16, Bajrang faced Sasha Madyarchyk of England and beat him 4-0. He faced Marno Plaatjies of South Africa in the quarter-finals and won 4-1. The Nigerian wrestler, Amas Daniel, was his opponent in the semi-finals and overcame him in a 3-1 scoreline.[7][8]

2014 Asian Games

In Incheon, South Korea, he won the silver medal in the Men's freestyle 61 kg category, after losing 1-3 to Masoud Esmaeilpoorjouybari of Iran.

In the Round of 16, he faced Tuvshintulga Tumenbileg of Mongolia and beat him 3-1. His quarter-finals opponent was Farkhodi Usmonzoda of Tajikistan whom he beat 4-1 to qualify for the semi-finals. He was assured of a medal when he beat Noriyuki Takatsuka of Japan 4-1 in the semi-finals.[9]

2014 Asian Wrestling Championships

In Astana, Kazakhstan, Bajrang won the silver medal in the men's freestyle 61 kg category, losing 0-4 to Masoud Esmaeilpour of Iran.

In the Round of 16, Bajrang met Lee Seung-Chul of South Korea whom he beat 3-1. In the quarter-finals, he faced Noriyuki Takatsuka of Japan whom he beat 3-1 to qualify for the semi-finals. There he met Nazmandakh Lhamgarmaa of Mongolia whom he beat 3-1 to assure himself of a medal.[10]

2015 World Wrestling Championships

Unlike his fellow Narsingh Yadav, Bajrang wasn't able to win a medal at the tournament in Las Vegas and finished 5th.[11]

In the Round of 32, he met Batboldyn Nomin of Mongolia who beat him 10-0. With the Mongolian qualifying for the final bout in the 61 kg category, Bajrang got a chance to contest in the Repêchage round. His first opponent in the repêchage round was Reece Humphrey of the USA whom he beat 6-0 easily. The second repêchage opponent was Beka Lomtadze from Georgia who put up a fight but was ultimately overcome 13-6 by the Indian. Unfortunately, he fell at the last hurdle, drawing the bronze medal bout 6-6 but his opponent Vasyl Shuptar of Ukraine, scoring the last point.[11]

Asian Wrestling Championship 2017

In 2017 May, he won a gold medal at the Asian Wrestling Championship held at Delhi.[3]

Pro Wrestling League

Bajrang was the second acquisition of the JSW owned Bangalore franchise in the auction conducted in New Delhi. The wrestler was picked up for a sum of Rs 29.5 lakh.[12]

The Pro Wrestling League was scheduled to be held from 10 December to 27 December across six cities.[13]

2018 Commonwealth Games

In Gold Coast, Australia, he won the gold medal in the men's freestyle 65 kg category. He overcame Kane Charig of Wales by Technical Superiority to clinch the gold.

2018 Asian Games

On August 19, he won the Men's freestyle 65 kg /Gold medal. He defeated Japanese Wrestler Takatani Daichi 11-8; the score was locked at 6-6 after the first round.[14][15]

2018 World Wrestling Championships

Bajrang won Silver at the 2019 World Wrestling Championships. After that Silver Medal, he claimed World No. 1 in 65 kg category.[16]

2019 World Wrestling Championships

Bahrang won Bronze for the second time at a World Championshkp, thereby qualifying India for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in the 65 kg freestyle wrestling event.

2020 Rome Ranking Series

On 18 January, Bajrang defeated Jordan Oliver 4-3 in the final in the 65 kg freestyle category at the Ranking Series.[17]

International Competition

World Championship

Year Competition Venue Event Rank opponent
2019 2019 World Wrestling Championships Nur-sultan 65 kg  Daulet Niyazbekov (KAZ)
2018 2018 World Wrestling Championships Budapest 65 kg  Takuto Otoguro (JPN)
2017 2017 World Wrestling Championships Paris France 65 kg 13th  Zurabi Iakobishvili (GEO)
2016 2016 World Wrestling Championships Budapest 61 kg 9th  Akhmednabi Gvarzatilov (AZE)
2015 2015 World Wrestling Championships Las Vegas 61 kg 5th  Batboldyn Nomin (MGL)
2013 2013 World Wrestling Championships Hungry 60 kg  Vladimir Dubov (BUL)

U23 World Championship

Year Competition Venue Event Rank opponent
2017 2017 World U23 Wrestling Championships Bydgoszcz 65 kg  Nachyn Kuular (RUS)

Asian Games

Year Competition Venue Event Rank Opponent
2018 2018 Asian Games Jakarta 65kg  Daichi Takatani (JPN)
2014 2014 Asian Games Incheon 61kg  Masoud Esmaeilpour (IRI)

Commonwealth Games

Year Competition Venue Event Rank Opponent
2018 2018 Commonwealth Games Gold Coast 65kg  Kane Charig (WAL)
2014 2014 Commonwealth Games Glasgow 61kg  David Tremblay (CAN)

Asian Wrestling Championship

Year Competition Venue Event Rank Opponent
2020 2020 Asian Wrestling Championships New Delhi 65kg  Takuto Otoguro (JPN)
2019 2019 Asian Wrestling Championships Xi'an 65kg  Sayatbek Okassov (KAZ)
2018 2018 Asian Wrestling Championships Bishkek 65kg  Daichi Takatani (JPN)
2017 2017 Asian Wrestling Championships New Delhi 65kg  Seunghui Lee (KOR)
2016 2016 Asian Wrestling Championships Bangkok 65kg 10th  Kum Su JON (PRK)
2014 2014 Asian Wrestling Championships Astana 61kg  Masoud Esmaeilpour (IRI)
2013 2013 Asian Wrestling Championships New Delhi 60kg  Yang Jae-hoon (KOR)

Record against opponents

Beka Lomtadze

Awards

The President, Shri Ram Nath Kovind presenting the Padma Shree Award to Shri Bajrang Punia, at an Investiture Ceremony, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi on March 11, 2019

References

  1. "India dominates". The Hindu. 7 November 2016. Archived from the original on 8 November 2016. Retrieved 8 November 2016.
  2. Saini, Ravinder (31 July 2014). "Silver medallist Bajrang's native village erupts in joy". The Tribune. Tribune News Service. Archived from the original on 3 March 2018. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
  3. Wins gold medal in Asian Wrestling Championship; father seeks DSP’s post for grappler, The Tribune, 14-May-2017
  4. "Glasgow 2014 - Bajrang Bajrang Profile". g2014results.thecgf.com. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  5. Blaine Henry (1 June 2020). "Bajrang Punia: In The Middle of Difficulty Lies Opportunity". Fight-Library.com.
  6. "International Wrestling Database". www.iat.uni-leipzig.de. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  7. "Bajrang Kumar wins bronze at World Wrestling Championships". CNN-IBN. 17 September 2013. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  8. "Bajrang wins bronze at World Wrestling Championships". The Times of India. 17 September 2013. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  9. "Athletes_Profile | Biographies | Sports". www.incheon2014ag.org. Archived from the original on 4 October 2014. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  10. "International Wrestling Database". www.iat.uni-leipzig.de. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  11. "International Wrestling Database". www.iat.uni-leipzig.de. Archived from the original on 8 October 2015. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  12. "JSW bag Narsingh at Pro Wrestling League auction - Times of India". The Times of India. 4 November 2015. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
  13. "Pro Wrestling League: Yogeshwar Dutt gets Rs 39.7-lakh offer, Sushil Kumar Rs 38.2 lakh - The Economic Times". The Economic Times. 4 November 2015. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
  14. "Wrestler Bajrang Punia brings India first Asian Games gold". The Indian Express. 20 August 2018. Retrieved 20 August 2018.
  15. "Wrestling Results Book" (PDF). 2018 Asian Games. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 February 2020. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  16. "Bajrang becomes number one in world in 65kg". The Pioneer. 20 August 2018. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
  17. "Bajrang Punia wins gold at Rome Ranking Series event". India Today. Ist. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
  18. "JSW-supported Bajrang Punia and Babita Kumari receive Arjuna Award". www.sportskeeda.com. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  19. "Bajrang Punia: The Padma honour more than makes up for the Khel Ratna snub - Times of India ►". The Times of India. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
  20. https://www.indiatoday.in/sports/other-sports/story/bajrang-punia-likely-rajiv-gandhi-khel-ratna-2019-wrestling-asian-games-gold-medalist-1581445-2019-08-16
  21. "Bajrang Punia, Elavenil Valarivan bag top honours at FICCI India Sports Awards". The Hindu. 9 December 2020.
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