At the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, 20-year-old Bajrang Punia lost to Iran's Masoud Esmaeilpour Jouybari by a slender 1-2 margin in the men's 61 kg freestyle wrestling event.
Four years later at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia, Punia wins gold in the final of the 65 kg men's freestyle wrestling competition, defeating Takatani Daichi of Japan, 11-8.
Punia has been in spectacular form leading up to the Asian Games, winning gold medals at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, Yasar Dogu International in Turkey and the Tbilisi Grand Prix in Georgia. His success story at the Asian Games is a testament to his rise in the sport of wrestling.
Punia won the three matches preceding the final in style, with scores of 13-3, 12-2 and 10-0. In the finals, Punia stormed to a 6-0 lead before being pegged back to 6-6 in the first round but ultimately winning the match -- and India's first gold in this edition of the Asian Games.
The Haryana grappler is mentored by Olympic bronze medal winner, Yogeshwar Dutt, who is revered and respected by the 24-year-old wrestler.
Born in Haryana's Khudan village, Bajrang took up wrestling at a very young age of eight, following the footsteps of his father, who was also a wrestler. A few years down the line, he had found his guru and mentor in Yogeshwar -- one of India's wrestling greats.
बेटा बजरंग आपको एशियन गेम्स में स्वर्ण पदक ?जीतने की बहुत बहुत बधाई। ऐसे ही देश का झंडा ऊंचा करते रहो, देश का नाम रोशन करते रहो। मुझे और देश को आप पर बहुत गर्व है। जय हिंद, जय भारत। @BajrangPunia #AsianGames #AsianGames2018 #IndianWrestling ?? pic.twitter.com/9AARiq3OcA
— Yogeshwar Dutt (@DuttYogi) August 19, 2018
Bajrang watched and followed Dutt's wrestling intently and was encouraged by his mentor. He got his big break in the 2013 Asian Wrestling Championships in New Delhi, where he won a bronze medal in the 60 kg category followed by two silver medals at the 2014 Asian Games and 2014 Commonwealth Games.
The years 2017 and 2018 have been successful for Bajrang as he won as many as four gold medals leading up to the Asian Games. He has made the jump from 61 kg to 65 kg very smoothly and has been successful since making the switch, which will bode well for him and India at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. He is determined to do what his mentor, Dutt couldn't manage to do -- win gold at the Olympics.
