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Injured Bajrang Punia withdraws from Asian Championships final, Ravi Dahiya wins gold
In what turned out to be an anti-climax, Punia did not show up for the final leaving Otoguro surprised. The Indian came for the medal ceremony and shook hands with Otoguro.
Bajrang Punia pulled out of a highly-anticipated rematch against nemesis Takuto Otoguro of Japan in the final of the 65kg at the Asian Championships in Almaty, Kazakhstan on Saturday. With an old elbow injury resurfacing in earlier rounds, Punia said he did not want to take any risk with the Tokyo Olympics three months away.
“I felt some pain in my elbow in the first bout and it increased a bit in the second. I did not want to take any risk before the Tokyo Olympics. Anything can happen in a bout and I don’t want to be in a situation where I am away from training for a long time,” said Punia, who had a tear in his right elbow before the 2019 World Championships.
In what turned out to be an anti-climax, Punia did not show up for the final leaving Otoguro surprised. The Indian came for the medal ceremony and shook hands with Otoguro.
In the morning session, Punia and Otoguro clinically demolished their opponents to set up a blockbuster third meeting between them—a rivalry that has all the makings of a potential gold medal bout at the Tokyo Olympics. Otoguro had denied Punia 2018 World Championships and last year’s Asian Championships titles.
Otoguro, competing after an absence of one year following the pandemic, looked as agile and dangerous on the mat. In the quarter-final against an attacking Nodir Rakhimov, his tactical manoeuvring was a delight. With his lightning quick movements, he converted defensive positions to positions of strength.
Especially sensational was when Rakhimov lifted him right on the edge of the mat, but an off-balance Otoguro found his footing on one leg and shifted his body weight for a four-point throw. With two more four-pointers Otoguro ended a 13-0 winner. In the semi-final, Otoguro defeated Iran’s Morteza Hassanali Ghiasi Cheka 8-2, swiftly going for his favourite single-leg attacks and piling up score through takedowns.
Bajrang, on the other hand, had an unhurried start against Korean Jeong Yongseok. He was sharp while defending his legs—often seen as his weakest link—and while foiling one attack he countered to take two points on a takedown. After adding one more point, Punia focused on defending without wasting much of his energy while winning 3-0.
In the semi-final against Bilguun Sarmandakh of Mongolia, he scored one point in the first period with the activity clock ticking away for his opponent. But soon he came hard on Sarmandakh in the second period with a takedown and gut-wrenches in one swift move before unleashing all his power to pin him down at 7-0 with more than a minute left in the clock.
That set up the big match between Punia and 2018 world champion Otoguro, against whom the Indian had a crushing 10-2 loss at home last year at the same stage. Otoguro had scored heavily repeatedly attacking Punia’s legs.
Punia has improved on his leg defence as it showed in Almaty, but can he counter Otoguro’s attacks in something that remained unanswered for the moment.
“He performed very well today,” said Punia’s coach Emzarios Bentinidis. “We have done some serious work in the last two months and see the control he showed with his legs today. There was no point putting him under any risk before the Olympics. Just wait for Tokyo,” he said.
Gold for Dahiya
Ravi Dahiya defended his title in 57kg with a brilliant effort against Alireza Nosratollah Sarlak of Iran in the final, winning 9-4. Dahiya was relentless with his attacks, even as Sarlak was not far off in the first period. Leading 4-3, Dahiya kept going for Sarlak’s legs scoring in takedowns and step outs adding a flurry of points. Dahiya reached the final after beating Nodirjon Safarov of Uzbekistan 9-2 and Ali M M Aburumalia 11-0.
Also ending up with a medal was Narsingh Yadav, who won bronze in non-Olympic 79kg category getting past Ahmed Mohsin Kadhim of Iraq 8-2 in the bronze medal match. In 70kg Karan added another bronze after beating Lee Seungbong of Korea 3-1.
