Tokyo Olympics 2020: Bajrang Punia Moves Into Semis; Indian Medal Hopes Still Alive

Bajrang Punia, the No. 2 seed from India, advanced to the wrestling 65kg semifinals at the Tokyo Olympics with a 2-1 win over Iran's Morteza Ghiasi on Friday (August 6).

Bajrang trailed 0-1 throughout most of the game, but he managed to pick up two important points in the final seconds of the game to keep his and India's medal hopes alive.

Earlier, Bajrang, India's last hope for a medal in wrestling at the Olympics, advanced to the men's free-style 65kg quarterfinals after narrowly defeating Kyrgyzstan's Ernazar Akmataliev in his opening bout.

Also Read: Tokyo Olympics 2020: Ravi Kumar Dahiya Brings Home Silver

Bajrang will now compete in the semifinals against the 2016 Rio Olympic Games bronze medalist and three-time world champion Haji Aliyev at about 2.50 pm on Friday.

After Sushil Kumar in the 2012 London Olympics and Ravi Dahiya in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the Indian wrestler will attempt to become only the third Indian wrestler to reach the wrestling finals.