Deepak Punia eyes to retain Asian title, Ravinder to compete for bronze, Watch Live on WrestlingTV: Deepak Punia reached the final of the ongoing Asian Wrestling Championship with a confident 2-0 win over Korea’s Gwanuk Kim in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
Showing tremendous skills in defence, Olympic-bound Deepak Punia earned himself a shot at a maiden Asian Championship title by reaching the 86kg final, while Ravinder (61kg) and Sanjeet (92kg) will fight for bronze here on Sunday.
Kim’s several double leg attacks bore no fruit in the face of the 22-year old Deepak’s solid defence.
The Indian, who secured his Olympic quota with a World Championship bronze, earned both his points on the passivity of his opponent.
Deepak’s defensive tactics won him bouts against Uzbekistan’s Isa Shapiev (9-2) and Tajikistan’s Bakhodur Kodirov (4-3).
In the 61kg, Ravinder began with a close 4-3 win over Iran’s Majid Almas Dastan but lost his 4-7 semifinal defeat against Kazakhstan’s Adlan Aakarov.
The home wrestler’s relentless attack resulted in him getting out of breath in the second period but Ravinder could not take advantage of that.
Asian Wrestling Championship Final: Ravi Dahiya bags gold, Bajrang Punia concedes final to Otoguro, watch LIVE streaming on Wrestling TV
Earlier, Ravi Dahiya made India proud by bagging the gold medal in the 57kg weight category of the ongoing Asian Wrestling Championship by defeating his opponent Sarlak A of Iran and defending his title. However, in the 65kg category, Bajrang Punia conceded the final to Japan’s Takuto Otoguro through a walkover.
The reason for Bajrang not competing in the final is, apparently, an injury. However, this news has been put out by ANI and is yet to be confirmed through an official communication.
Bajrang had earlier continued his stellar form after becoming World No 1 in the ranking series last month to advance the finals of the 65kg at the ongoing Asian Wrestling Championship in Almaty Kazakhstan.
Bajrang faced his arch-nemesis Takuto Otoguro of Japan in the gold medal bout. The 2018 CWG gold winner got the better of Korean grappler Yongseok Jeong 3-0 in the quarterfinals before outclassing Sarmandakh Bilguun from Mongolia convincingly by 7-0 to assure his finals berth.
Asian Wrestling Championship: Deepak Punia eyes Asian title; Ravinder to fight for bronze
