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Punia grabs silver after loss to idol Yazdani
Punia has been yearning for this fight against his ‘idol’ Yazdani since he missed the final of the world championships with an injury.
Iran’s Hassan Aliazam Yazdani entered the mat with a swagger and an acrobatic jump. The two-time world champion and Rio Olympics gold medallist carries the reputation of going ruthlessly after opponents and bringing a swift end to a fight. He lived up to it at the Asian Championships in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on Sunday, winning all his bouts with technical superiority, including the final against Tokyo Olympics-bound Deepak Punia.
Punia has been yearning for this fight against his ‘idol’ Yazdani since he missed the final of the world championships with an injury. Young Punia, a world junior champion, was sensational at his first worlds winning silver and an Olympic quota in the 86kg.
On Sunday, he showed good defence to beat Uzbekistan’s Isa Shapiev (9-2), Tajikistan’s Bakhodur Kodirov (4-3) and Kim Gwanuk of Korea (2-0) to set up a title showdown with Yazdani. However, Punia could keep his legs off Yazdani’s grasp only towards the start. Thereafter, Yazdani was quick to pounce on his legs, scoring through takedowns and finishing with a gut-wrench just at the stroke of the half period (10-0). The Iranian, who was returning to action after one and half years, had a similar scoreline against Mustafa Abdulbasit of Iraq and Hayato Ishiguro of Japan. It was Yazdani’s second Asian title. After winning the title at Rio Olympics in 74kg he shifted to 86kg and has won two world titles in the category.
While Punia is still learning his craft, the bout against Yazdani will put the youngster in good stead before the Tokyo Olympics. Considering that he was laid low by Covid last year, Punia will also be satisfied to come back with a silver from a major event before the Olympics.
The second medal came through Sanjeet who defeated Rustam Shodiev of Uzbekistan 11-8 for a bronze in non-Olympics 92 kg. In 61kg Ravinder gave a good display in the quarter-final beating Iran's Majid Almas Dastan, winning on criteria (3-3). He lost to home wrestler Adlan Askarov 7-4 in the semi-final and went down to Ikromzhon Khadzhimurodov 14-4 of Kyrgyzstan in the bronze medal match.
India finished the competition with a tally of five gold, three silver and six bronze medals. The showing was impressive with five Tokyo Olympics-bound wrestlers finishing on the podium.
Vinesh Phogat (53kg), Anshu Malik (57kg), Ravi Dahiya (57kg) won gold medals, while Bajrang Punia (65kg) and Deepak finished with silver. Sonam Malik (62kg) missed the tournament with injury.
