Sajan Bhanwala gets third time lucky, wins U-23 worlds bronze
Trailing 4-10, Sajan Bhanwala fought back brilliantly and drew level with a four-point throw that gave him the victory
Sajan Bhanwala had come close to winning a medal at the U-23 World Wrestling Championships twice before. But on both those occasions, he lost in the semi-finals and also in his bronze medal bouts.
On Wednesday, Bhanwala made sure to make his third opportunity count and won India’s first bronze in Greco Roman in the World U-23 meet in Pontevedra, Spain. It looked like it was slipping from his grasp this time as well, given that he was trailing 4-10 against Dmytro Vasetskyi of Ukraine (77kg) in the first period. But he fought back brilliantly and drew level with a four-point throw that gave him the criteria and a victory.
Bhanwala had lost to Vasetskyi 0-9 in the first round last year but he showed that he had learned his lessons and learned them well.
“I was steady and waiting for the right opportunity. His ground wrestling is good and I wanted to score from the standing position. I just told myself that I needed to win this time. I had lost bronze medal bouts twice and I could not have let this opportunity go. This was my final attempt in the U-23 Worlds and I am glad that I finally won a medal for the country,” said Bhanwala, who lost in 2018 and 2019.
In the first round of repechage, he beat Rassul Zhunis of Kazakhstan 9-6. Before that he lost to Alexandrin Gutu of Moldova 0-8 in the second round.
Bhanwala emerged as one of India's brightest talents in Greco Roman when he won three medals at the Junior World Championships (2017-2019). It was time he progressed to the next level and Bhanwala hopes this medal is a step towards that.
“I need to develop my strength. I have had close bouts with quality wrestlers and that gives me confidence that I can improve,” said Bhanwala who started his wrestling in Pratap School in Kharkhoda.
Greco Roman has stayed in the shadows of freestyle but Bhanwala feels it is going to start changing as a new crop is giving has started to perform at the world level. At the Asian Championships this year, Greco Roman wrestlers won three bronze medals.
“Now, wrestlers are being introduced to Greco Roman at an early age and are not waiting to switch from freestyle. The exposure tours and international competitions have helped to improve. My goal is to make it to the Paris Olympics,” said Bhanwala.
India’s under-23 national coach Kuldeep Singh feels Bhanwala has impressive speed and stamina and can put up a fight for a full six minutes.
“He has good endurance and he can score big with his throws. He keeps on fighting. That’s why he was able to cover the deficit,” said Singh.
“We still have a lot of ground to cover in the discipline. It is very technical and an opponent can quickly score if you are not sound technically. Sajan had medals in world junior meets and the U-23 world bronze will be an opportunity to reach the next level.”
