Bajrang Punia wins bronze, becomes first Indian to win 4 medals at World Wrestling Championships

Bajrang Punia won his fourth medal at the World Wrestling Championships in Belgrade on Sunday, beating Puerto Rico's Sebastian Rivera by the skin of his teeth in a 65kg bronze medal match.

Bajrang, who suffered a head injury in the pre-quarterfinals and lost to American John Diakomihalis in the quarterfinals before returning to medal contention on Saturday, came back from 0-6 down to win 11-9. It was his third bronze medal, in addition to a silver.

After giving up six points in 35 seconds, Bajrang responded with a throw and a takedown to tie the game. Rivera reclaimed the lead in the opening period with another two-pointer and subsequently increased it to 9-6.

th Worlds medal for @BajrangPunia 

Our Tokyo Olympics BRONZE medalist has bagged a BRONZE again. This time at the Wrestling World Championships (FS 65kg) in Belgrade

His World Championships CV now:

SILVER - 2018
BRONZE - 2013, 2019, 2022#WrestleBelgrade pic.twitter.com/vF1kOEEflL

— SAI Media (@Media_SAI) September 18, 2022

Bajrang, who battled with a bandaged head, narrowed the deficit and overpowered Rivera with two takedowns. A failed video challenge from the Puerto Rican for a move done at the very last second earned Bajrang another point.

Earlier, in the repechage round, Bajrang overcame an 0-4 deficit to defeat Individual World Cup champion Vazgen Tevanyan of Armenia 7-6.

In this edition, India won two bronze medals, one of which was won by Vinesh Phogat.

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