World number one Bajrang Punia logged 10 points in a row in the gold medal bout to reclaim his Asian Championship crown. He defeated Kazakhstan’s Sayatbek Okassov 12-7 in a nail-biting 65kg men’s freestyle final at Xian in China on Tuesday.
It is Bajrang’s second gold at this championship, having won one in 2017. Overall, it was the fifth medal for the Indian in this tournament.
Another Indian in the gold medal contention is Parveen Rana, who entered the final in the 79kg category after a 3-2 win over Kazakhstan’s Galymzhan Usserbayev.
He will face Bahman Mohammad Teymouri of Iran in his gold-medal bout. In the 57kg weight division, Ravi Kumar entered the bronze medal play-off round after winning his repechage against Chia Tso Liu of Taipei 4-0. Ravi will be up against Yuki Takahashi of Japan.
Satywart Kadian, too, reached the bronze medal round in 97kg. Kadian lost to Batzul Ulziisaikhan in his quarterfinal bout but went on to make the cut after his Mongolian rival reached the final.