HIGHLIGHTS

• Bajrang Punia beat Daulet Niyazbekov to clinch the wrestling bronze
• Bajrang Punia was the 2nd Indian wrestler to win a medal for India at Tokyo 2020
• India registered its best-ever performance at the Tokyo Olympics with 7 medals, including a gold

Bajrang Punia’s mother Om Pyari is waiting anxiously to see her son, who is returning from a successful campaign at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics where he bagged the bronze medal in wrestling on Saturday.

Bajrang’s mother however, will have to wait a while as the star wrestler will first go to the Ashoka Hotel in Delhi for a grand felicitation ceremony scheduled and planned by the Sports Authority of India on Monday.

The 7 medallists – Neeraj Chopra, Mirabai Chanu, PV Sindhu, Indian men’s hockey team, Bajrang Punia, Ravi Kumar Dahiya and Lovlina Borgohain – will be welcomed by top dignitaries and officials from the SAI.

TOKYO 2020 FULL COVERAGE

Bajrang had won the fourth bronze for India when he beat Daulet Niyazbekov of Kazakhstan in the repechage round of the 65kg category.

The 26-year-old, who is the youngest of the three children of Balvan Singh Punia and Om Pyari Punia, had clinched his bronze just hours before javelin star Neeraj Chopra, who won the gold.

Bajrang’s mother has also prepared some of the wrestler’s favourite cuisines when he comes back home to Sonipat.

BAJRANG’S CAMPAIGN

Bajrang was one of India’s top medal contenders in the Tokyo Games and was looking set for the top prize but he was thrashed by three-time world champion Haji Aliyev of Azerbaijan 12-5 in the semi-final.

Bajrang stormed to the semi-final with a victory via fall over Iran’s Morteza Ghiasi in quarter-final. Bajrang was trailing 0-1 throughout the bout but managed to pin Ghiasi in the second period and sealed the victory.

He earlier beat Kazakhstan’s Ernazar Akmataliev in the pre-quarters by criteria. Bajrang raced to a 3-1 lead in the first period of his first round bout.

Bajrang came into the Tokyo Olympics as one India’s biggest medal hopes. He won gold at the 2018 Asian Games then won silver at the 2019 World Championships. The latter result helped him qualify for the Olympics.