Injury scare for Tokyo-bound Bajrang Punia at Ali Aliyev wrestling meet

India’s Tokyo-bound wrestler Bajrang Punia was forced to withdraw from the Ali Aliyev Memorial wrestling tournament in Russia after suffering an injury in the 65kg freestyle semi-final bout on Friday.

Up against ROC’s Abdulmazhid Kudiev, Bajrang Punia was trailing the bout 4-0 when one of Kudiev’s attacking moves caught the Indian wrestler off guard.

With Bajrang Punia on the mat, Kudiev went for the pin but the Indian grappler was writhing in pain by then, clutching his right knee.

After a brief check-up by the medical staff, Bajrang Punia got up on his feet but was in clear discomfort. He then chose to forfeit the bout and walked off the arena with help from his opponent.

“He is fine and normal. He has been given pain-killing injection. It does not look serious, he should be okay,” Bajrang Punia’s Georgian coach Shako Bentinidis told the PTI later.

Bajrang Punia is among the seven Indian wrestlers who have qualified for Tokyo 2020. He is seeded second in the 65kg category for the Tokyo Olympics and is considered one of India’s best medal hopes. Bajrang has been training in Russia since the start of June and opted to skip the Poland ranking series held earlier this month.

The Indian wrestler had returned to the mat for the first time since the Asian Championships in April - where he had reached the final before withdrawing.

Before his injury, Bajrang Punia looked in good form. He beat ROC’s Z Abdusalamov by technical superiority in the Round of 32 and overcame another ROC wrestler M Saidulaev 6-1 in the pre-quarterfinals.

His toughest challenge came in the last eight where he was up against Kazakhstan’s Daulet Niyazbekov, a London 2012 Olympian. Niyazbekov had won the 65kg silver at the 2019 World Championships and had beaten Bajrang Punia in the semi-finals.

The Indian wrestler though did not have any problems against Niyazbekov this time around. Bajrang Punia dominated the Kazakh wrestler to win 9-0 and eased into the semis.